Tobacco use and its impact on pulmonary health among elderly population in rural area of Muzaffarnagar – A cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundThe tobacco use is significant in Indian rural population. Among them, elderly people in rural area are at special risk due to ageing and other factors. The impact of tobacco use on elderly health, therefore, needs to be studied in depth in rural context. ObjectiveTo study the patterns of tobacco use and its consequent impact on pulmonary health of the elderly. Design and methodologyA community-based cross-sectional study was done (April 1st to September 30th, 2014) in the field practice area (village Bilaspur) of Rural Health Training Centre (RHTC) of Muzaffarnagar Medical College, Muzaffarnagar. A simple random sampling was used and elderly of 60 years and above were interviewed by semi-structured interview schedule. The data were analyzed by software Epi-info. version 7.1.3.3. Results and conclusionThe prevalence of tobacco usage among elderly was 56.7%, in which smoking was the dominant one (37%) and majority being in the form of Bidi (56.7%). Tobacco usage was significantly associated not only with age, sex, and caste (p<0.05 each), but occupational and socio-economic status (p<0.01 each) also; however, literacy was the most significant factor (p<0.0001) among all. The tobacco usage in smoking form was highly significantly associated with the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (p<0.0001), elucidating a significant impact on their pulmonary health. The rural elderly people need health education regarding curtailing the use of tobacco for their better health from health clinics.