Health Hazards Of Tobacco Research Articles

A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Program on Oral Health Hazards of Tobacco among Adolescent of Selected School of Greater Noida

A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Program on Oral Health Hazards of Tobacco among Adolescent of Selected School of Greater Noida

Abstract B124: An assessment of awareness on oral cancer among smokeless tobacco users in the rural skirts of Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract Background In India, the number of newly diagnosed tobacco related cancers has been estimated at approximately 250 000 out of a total of 700 000–900 000 new cancers diagnosed each year. Smokeless tobacco (ST) is tobacco consumed orally, not smoked. It has been in use for as long as other forms of tobacco consumption and its use have increased. The deleterious effects of smokeless tobacco use are perhaps not as well-known as those produced by smoking. Smokeless tobacco use has been recognized as a cause of cancer. In developing countries, tobacco is mostly chewed with other ingredients. The aim of this study is to assess the awareness of health hazards of tobacco among smokeless tobacco users in Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu, India. METHODOLOGY The inhabitants of the villages in Kancheepuram district were recruited after ethical clearance from the institutional ethical board, permission from the Village panchayat leader and informed consent from the participants to conduct the study. Inhabitants of the villages aged 18 to 75 years and present on the day data collection and who were willing to participate in the study were included.Random sampling method was used and data was collected from a cross-sectional survey, using a pretested Questionnaire, which included Demographic data, tobacco habits, its frequency and form.Anti-tobacco counselling was given on the spot and followed.The data collected was analysed using SPSS version21. RESULT: The study population consisted of total 800 individuals, male 400 and females 400. From the results it is observed that more than 70% were unaware of the harmful effects of using tobacco products. Majority of the females use smokeless tobacco and smoking tobacco was common among males. Most common cause of tobacco use was pleasure 32.5% and inducing factor were friends 43.7%. High prevalence of potentially malignant lesion were found among this population. Effectiveness of anti-tobacco counselling is greater among the females compared to males. CONCLUSION: The dangers from smoking and chewing tobacco are well documented within the literature but the public’s lack of knowledge of the risks is a concern. Health professionals are encouraged to disseminate information on the subject as widely as possible and improve existing screening programmes to ensure that the public is made aware of these risks, especially those within high-risk groups. Citation Format: Delfin Lovelina Francis, Saravanan SP. An assessment of awareness on oral cancer among smokeless tobacco users in the rural skirts of Tamil Nadu, India [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr B124.

Socioeconomic inequalities in tobacco cessation among Indians above 15 years of age from 2009 to 2017: evidence from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)

BackgroundTobacco is strongly associated with socioeconomic status (SES), however evidence on differences in tobacco cessation by socio-economic attributes remains fragmented, especially in developing countries. The present study aims to estimate socioeconomic inequalities in tobacco cessation among Indian men and women above 15 years of age.MethodsTwo rounds of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (2009–2010 and 2016–2017), India was used to estimate the association between socioeconomic indicators (wealth index and educational attainment) with tobacco cessation using a multinomial modeling approach.ResultsAfter adjusting for SES and demographic variables, we found significantly lower odds in tobacco cessation rates among respondents of GATS-2 (2016–2017) compared to GATS-1 (2009–2010). Additionally, huge regional variations in smoking and smokeless tobacco cessation rates were observed. Population belonging to the low wealth-asset score had higher odds of cessation compared to the high asset index. While greater educational attainment was seen to have a positive effect on cessation, the results were insignificant. Individuals belonging to the northeastern geographic region were seen to have the lowest odds of cessation. Though awareness about the health hazards of tobacco increased, cessation declined for both men and women. Quitting smokeless tobacco among men and women was observed to be lower than smoking.ConclusionThis study is the first to provide national-level evidence on the association between tobacco cessation and socioeconomic attributes among Indians above 15 years of age. Findings suggest the need to scale up tobacco cessation services separately for men and women, and also for smoking and smokeless tobacco forms.

Prevalence of smoking in rural and urban areas in India

The use of tobacco overall in India is given with an advanced rate of frequency of smoking. The high burden of tobacco use, the studies have stated the examined the indigenous, socioeconomic, demographic, and, other factors of smoking, smokeless tobacco in India. The main idea is to study the burden of the complaint, socioeconomic status, demographic of the use of smoking in civic and pastoral places of overall India. The studies have analysed it through a cross-sectional bivariate and multivariate analysis, for representation of the sample of individualities from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey in India. The different forms of tobacco use are in three different forms, substantially smoking only, smokeless tobacco use, and admixture of both uses were considered as outgrowth variables of all the studies. Smokeless tobacco use was the major form of tobacco use in India followed by smoking and binary tobacco use. Tobacco use is in advanced among males than in ladies in the pastoral and civic populations of India. The population was lacking knowledge of the health hazards of tobacco and had an advanced frequency of tobacco use in each form.

Prevalence of Oral Lesions and Nicotine Dependency among Tobacco Users in an Urban Community of Vellore, South India

Introduction: Tobacco consumption is one of the most leading causes of preventable deaths around the world. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), eight million deaths occur annually due to tobacco usage. Aim: To identify the prevalence of oral lesions among people who use tobacco, their knowledge on health hazards of tobacco uses and the dependence on nicotine among adults in the age group between 18 and 60 years. Materials and Methods: A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Community Medicine, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India, among an urban community of Vellore, January 2019 and June 2019. This study included 930 participants. An interviewer administrated questionnaire was used to assess the prevalence of tobacco and dependence on nicotine among adults. The participants who use tobacco were examined for oral lesions. Univariate analysis was performed to highlight the variables of this study and logistic regression model was used to find the adjusted odds ratios and p-values. Results: The total number of adults who participated in this study was 930. The median age group among the study population was 38 years and the mean age was 38.26±12 years. About two-third (62.2%) of the participants were females. The proportion of adults currently using tobacco in any form was 24.19% (n=225) with those Smoking Tobacco (ST) was 59.1% (n=133), Smokeless Tobacco (SLT) was 38.6% (n=87) and using both ST and SLT were 2.2% (n=5). The prevalence of oral mucosal lesions was found to be 60.1% with smoker’s palate (N=96) being the most frequently occurring oral mucosal lesion. The nicotine dependence was found to be significant in the subjects with age more than 45 years and had used tobacco for more than 20 years. On the analysis of the knowledge on health hazards, it was identified that 76.3% of the participants were aware that use of tobacco in any form can cause oral lesions. Conclusion: This study highlights that oral lesions and nicotine dependence are highly prevalent among the tobacco users. This emphasises the need for community-based oral health awareness programs highlighting the consequences of tobacco usage in order to prevent the incidence of oral cancers.

Study on the Learning Effectiveness of the Tobacco Control Window Design Course in Line with the Visual Marketing Standards of the World Skills Competition

Objectives: Almost all smokers started smoking cigarettes before the age of 18 then became addicted to tobacco. Therefore, tobacco prevention education must be carried out throughout high school and university. Shunde Polytechnic integrates tobacco control health education into the window design curriculum, which allows students to complete and display tobacco control window design works on campus to cause discussion, thus achieving the promotion of tobacco control publicity and education. Based on the competition standards of the Visual Merchandising project of World Skills Competition, the original teaching methods were reformed in this research and the nine standards of the competition were divided into four modules for teaching. The required knowledge, specific skill requirements, and workflow were well integrated into the teaching of smoke control window design tasks to foster students’ abilities to display innovative design, window production, installation and operation, and teamwork. And the teaching results were verified according to World Skills Competition scoring methods and standards. The results showed that with the import of the Visual Merchandising project competition standard of World Skills Competition into the original window design course, on the one hand, the effects of students’ works and their self-satisfaction with their works have shown a significant improvement. On the other hand, although this kind of teaching method does not relieve the students’ mental, physical, time, and frustration pressure, it has stimulated and cultivated students’ good professional qualities. However, this research focuses on the assessment of professional skills and professionalism. Therefore, future research will more focus on evaluating the effectiveness of window design courses under the new teaching model in preventing youngsters from smoking or encouraging students to quit smoking, popularizing correct knowledge about the health hazards of tobacco, and establishing positive life beliefs.

A unique volunteer force spread mass awareness about health hazards of tobacco

A unique volunteer force spread mass awareness about health hazards of tobacco

Prevalence & Pattern of Tobacco Use among Adolescents in Vijayapura City, Karnataka – A Cross Sectional Study

Introduction: Tobacco contains the alkaloid nicotine, which is a stimulant, and harmful alkaloids & has addictive properties. Adolescent age group is the period of transition from childhood to adulthood and the habits that usually start in this age group will remain throughout life. GATS-2 highlights, 19% of men, 2% of women and 10.7% of all adults currently smoke tobacco. 29.6% of men, 12.8% of women and 21.4% of all adults currently use smokeless tobacco. Objectives: To find the Prevalence & Pattern of Tobacco use among adolescents in Vijayapura city. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Vijayapura city, which is the headquarter of Vijayapura district of Karnataka state, for 3 months among adolescents(10-19yrs) by using structured proforma, containing socio-demographic profile, details & pattern of tobacco use, money spent on tobacco products & knowledge of side-effects of tobacco use. Results: Among 432 adolescents interviewed, 28% were found using tobacco (smokeless> smoking), Male >females, Literates >illiterates, students >working group. The average money spent on tobacco was Rs.14 for smoking form & Rs.12 for smokeless form of tobacco. Tobacco use was started at the age of 14years. Parental influence to start the use of tobacco by adolescents was observed. Conclusions- The prevalence of tobacco use found among adolescent is around one third of the overall. The young Indians have lot of addictions and distractions, which include tobacco as one of it. It is very necessary to control the tobacco habit & protect the adolescents against the health hazards of tobacco.

Perceived social benefits versus perceived harms of smoking among Indonesian boys aged 12-16 years: A secondary analysis of Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2014.

INTRODUCTIONSmoking among boys has not been prioritised as a gender issue despite its high prevalence worldwide. In Indonesia, steep increases in prevalence have been observed in adolescent boys. This study explored how smoking-related beliefs are associated with smoking among this group.METHODSData extracted from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey Indonesia 2014, provided a nationally representative sample of 2729 male students aged 12–16 years. Measures of smoking-related beliefs were derived from eight survey items using principal component analysis. Associations between resulting components and smoking outcomes were modelled using logistic regression.RESULTSSmoking prevalence was found to be almost tripling between ages 12 to 16 years. Smoking-related belief items clustered into two components: perceived social benefits and perceived harms. The four beliefs representing smoking’s perceived social benefits and measures of smokers in the boys’ social circles increased with age while the four beliefs representing smoking’s perceived harms remained stable except an item of safe to smoke for one or two years, which increased with age. The two components of smoking-related beliefs were associated with smoking in opposite ways that represent boys’ masculine tendency for risk-taking and risk minimisation. For example, score increases for perceived benefits were positively associated with susceptibility to future tobacco use (OR=1.6; 95% CI: 1.3–1.9) but an increased score of perceived harm was negatively associated with susceptibility to future tobacco use (OR=0.8; 95% CI: 0.7–0.9).CONCLUSIONSIndonesian boys experience a rapid increase in smoking outcomes and smoking reported among their social circle. The sustained high percentage of smoking harms but also increased social benefits are similar to the concept of risk minimisation that is closely related to the masculine tendency to undermine health hazards of tobacco. Therefore, it is important to focus on these highly gender-related issues within the country.

An Assessment of Awareness on Oral Cancer Among Smokeless Tobacco Users in Rural Skirts of Tamil Nadu, India

Background: Smokeless tobacco (ST) is tobacco consumed orally, not smoked. It has been in use for as long as other forms of tobacco consumption and its use have increased. The deleterious effects of smokeless tobacco use are perhaps not as well-known as those produced by smoking. Smokeless tobacco use has been recognized as a cause of cancer. In developing countries, tobacco is mostly chewed with other ingredients. Despite the claims by some tobacco companies and a few harm reduction proponents that using smokeless tobacco products is less harmful than smoking or that smokeless tobacco should be used as a tool to help smokers quit smoking (but continue using tobacco in the form of smokeless tobacco), the fact remains that using smokeless tobacco still exposes users to many harmful chemicals and still heightens a user's risk for many of the same health problems as smoking. The aim of this study is to assess the awareness of health hazards of tobacco among smokeless tobacco users in Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu, India. Methodology: The inhabitants of the villages in Kancheepuram district, who have completed 18 years were included in the study. Ethical clearance from the board, permission from the village panchayat leader and informed consent from the participants to conduct the study was obtained. Inhabitants of the villages aged 18 to 75 years and present on the day data collection and who were willing to participate in the study were included. Random sampling method was used and data were collected from a cross-sectional survey, using a pretested questionnaire, which included demographic data, tobacco habits, its frequency and form. Antitobacco counseling was given on the spot and followed. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 15. Results: The study population consisted of total 400 individuals, male 200 and females 200. From the results it is observed that more than 70% were unaware of the harmful effects of tobacco. Majority of the females use smokeless tobacco and smoking tobacco was common among males. Most common cause of tobacco use was pleasure 32.5%, inducing factor were friends 43.7% followed by parents and siblings. Effectiveness of antitobacco counseling is greater among the females compared with males. Conclusion: The dangers from smoking and chewing tobacco are well documented within the literature but the public's lack of knowledge of the risks is a concern. Health professionals are encouraged to disseminate information on the subject as widely as possible and improve existing screening programs to ensure that the public is made aware of these risks, especially those within high-risk groups.

The Reach of Media to Smokers and Smokeless Tobacco Users in India: Evidence from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)

This study focuses on the impact of mass media in creating awareness and enhancing efficacy of tobacco control interventions by disseminating knowledge to the public about the harmful effects of tobacco. It examines variations in awareness of tobacco’s health hazards and anti-tobacco campaigns among 69,296 adults aged 15 and above based on gender and tobacco use (smoked or smokeless) and the role of the media in cessation attempts by tobacco users using data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS). The GATS is a household survey which was conducted in India during 2009-10. The study found that a higher proportion of adults was exposed to anti-smoking information across different media compared with anti-smokeless tobacco information. Tobacco users are also less likely to be aware of the health hazards of tobacco compared with non-users. Noticing anti-tobacco messages and knowing the health hazards of smokeless tobacco use are significantly associated with cessation attempts among tobacco users in India. Males are more likely to notice anti-smoking and anti-smokeless tobacco information through any media compared with females.

Cigarette smoking among medical students and some associated risk factors

Background Tobacco is a leading cause of preventable mortality and morbidity. College students are at high risk of smoking as they are prone to higher availability of cigarettes. Although medical students are aware about the health hazards of tobacco smoking, they, as well as physicians, smoke. Aim This study aimed to explore the characteristics of cigarette smoking problem and associated risk factors among medical students in Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was carried out on students from Tanta University, Faculty of Medicine in Egypt. Multistage random sampling technique was used. A valid specially designed self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data including age, sex, parents’ education, smoking status, family member smoking habit, and self-reported causes of smoking. Results Of 252 students, 138 were male and 114 were female. The prevalence of current smokers was 12% and ex-smokers was 6.3%; most of them were male (90.0%), and 13.1% were heavy smokers with a statistically significant association with higher parents’ education. The most commonly reported cause of cigarette smoking was stress (42%). There was a statistically significant association between quitting trials and cessation of this habit (P=0.01). Smoking habit among family members and the presence of smoking peers were significantly associated with smoking status (P=0.001, 0.008). Conclusion Cigarette smoking is a common problem among medical students despite their awareness about the health hazards of tobacco. Specific training and counseling should be part of the curriculum at medical schools.

PUB080 Different Methods for Tobacco Hazards Awareness

In the FCTC & MPOWER policy of WHO -W stands to Warn about hazards of Tobacco, specially the health hazards. Tobacco control is complex problem requires attention of all FCTC parties and NGO. Electronic media-specially TV media has the highest visibility, but, non aired mass media methods for creating awareness, has its own importance and many a times it is much cheaper and gets free coverage & easily available in different languages. Electronic media-specially TV media has the highest visibility, but, non aired mass media methods for creating awareness, has its own importance and many a times it is much cheaper and gets free coverage & easily available in different languages. Cancer Society of M.P. has been working in the field of Tobacco control for many years, using a combination of these different methodologies. Some of the activities conducted by us for Tobacco control and creating awareness about its health hazards are:- Posters: We have prepared, published and distributed various posters for tobacco control and self examination of oral cavity. Our posters have won international awards and have also been presented in many national & international conferences. The release of poster by eminent personalities, politicians gives us free media coverage on the topic too. One of our posters was also tested by Americans for its impact in Egypt. Hoardings/Bill boards are a cheaper long term display media, strategically placed, it has a high visibility also.Pamphlets:- We have distributed nearly 100 thousand pamphlets in the holy Sinhastha Mela (fair) where nearly 10 million people participated. Hoardings/Bill Boards:- Installed at strategic points they are a source of constant reminder to th health hazards of tobacco. Lectures/symposiums:- We regularly give lectures on different aspects of tobacco control & its health hazards. Exhibitions:- Participation & display of banners,posters etc in various exhibitions, where many people come & see them. Public Rally:- Rally taken out through the city draws attention of public as well as gets free media coverage. Involvement of Priests:-lectures given in various temples & holy places to involve priests into tobacco control. Lectures/symposiums/workshops- we have done more then 100 such activities, mainly targeting schools, colleges, social clubs, police, media, lawyers etc. Car Stickers, pasting of small banners behind rickshaws, slogan contests & involvement of local service clubs in the activities helps us reach a larger population. All media are helpful in Tobacco Control. Although TV is an important awareness media, others are also important.

Use Of Tobacco And Related Products In Adolescents Of An English Medium School, Belgaum- A Cross Sectional Questionnaire Based Study

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Majority of adults are aware of health hazards of tobacco, children and adolescents continue to get exposed to tobacco and many develop cancer in later years. AIM To document the smoking and tobacco consumption habits in adolescents in an English Medium school of age group between 17-18 years in the city of Belgaum. METHODOLOGY A cross-sectional survey was carried out by self-administered questionnaire to document the smoking and tobacco consumption among representative sample of 40 adolescent students selected by cluster sampling method. RESULTS In the School, 10% of students were using tobacco and cigarettes, 90% of students were not using them, 92.5% of students were aware of harmful effects of tobacco, supari and smoking, 92.5% of students saw other children using tobacco. CONCLUSION Health education should be given at school level to raise awareness about the use of tobacco, its related products and its consequences.

Pan masala plus tobacco is equal to Gutka square--new formulation of tobacco in India after the Gutka ban.

Tobacco is a well known cause of death worldwide. With existing comprehensive laws and various other measures for tobacco control, the mortality and morbidity due to tobacco usage have unfortunately not been reduced. A large number of tobacco users have altered their pattern of tobacco use after the gutka ban. Traditional gutka is sold in the open market in a pre-mixed format. Manufacturers are supplying pan masala and tobacco in separate pouches as there is no restriction for sale of pan masala and tobacco individually in many states. Although most of the population is aware of the health hazards of tobacco, it is necessary to develop an effective structured strategy. Tobacco control programs need to be strengthened by separate tobacco control measures at various levels.

Prevalence and determinants of tobacco use in India: evidence from recent Global Adult Tobacco Survey data.

BackgroundTobacco use in India is characterized by a high prevalence of smoking and smokeless tobacco use, with dual use also contributing a noticeable proportion. In the context of such a high burden of tobacco use, this study examines the regional variations, and socioeconomic, demographic and other correlates of smoking, smokeless tobacco and dual use of tobacco in India.Methods and FindingsWe analyzed a cross sectional, nationally representative sample of individuals from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey in India (2009–10), which covered 69,296 individuals aged 15 years and above. The current tobacco use in three forms, namely, smoking only, smokeless tobacco use only, and both smoking and smokeless tobacco use were considered as outcomes in this study. Descriptive statistics, cross tabulations and multinomial logistic regression analysis were adopted as analytical tools. Smokeless tobacco use was the major form of tobacco use in India followed by smoking and dual tobacco use. Tobacco use was higher among males, the less educated, the poor, and the rural population in India. Respondents lacking knowledge of health hazards of tobacco had higher prevalence of tobacco use in each form. The prevalence of different forms of tobacco use varies significantly by states. The prevalence of tobacco use increases concomitantly with age among females. Middle-aged adult males had higher prevalence of tobacco use. Age, education and region were found to be significant determinants of all forms of tobacco use. Adults from the poor household had significantly higher risk of consuming smokeless tobacco. Lack of awareness about the selected hazards of tobacco significantly affects tobacco use.ConclusionsThere is an urgent need to curb the use of tobacco among the sub-groups of population with higher prevalence. Tobacco control policies in India should adopt a targeted, population-based approach to control and reduce tobacco consumption in the country.

Communicating tobacco health risks: How effective are the warning labels on tobacco products?

Background:Health hazards of tobacco are well known but only small numbers of tobacco users are fully aware of the harmful effects of tobacco. Warning labels on tobacco products are an effective way of communicating the consequences of tobacco use and bring about behavioural changes like quitting and reducing the tobacco consumption. So the present study was conducted to investigate the awareness and effectiveness of warning labels on tobacco products among health and non-healthcare professional of Barwala, Panchkula.Materials and Methods:A descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out among 408 subjects who were randomly selected from different professional colleges of Barwala, Panchkula. Data obtained were anlysed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test using SPSS 20.0.Results:Most of study participants has noticed the warnings on tobacco products and most of them believe that they could understand warning labels. More that 70% believe that warnings create awareness about health hazards of tobacco and help in reducing or quitting tobacco. Pictorial warning was found to be better as compared to text warning. Health professionals were able to assess pictorial warnings more correctly as compared to non-healthcare professionals.Conclusion:Warning labels on tobacco packs effectively inform people about adverse health effects of tobacco but the mandated warnings do not serve the desired purpose since they are not properly understood.

Tobacco consumption and awareness of their health hazards amongst remote village area in Uttar Pradesh

The present study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of consumption of tobacco amongst general public in remote areas of Unnao (Uttar Pradesh) and to study the perception of the children regarding the health hazards of tobacco. A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 600 persons (400 men and 200 women). Men and women were divided under various age group i.e. Upto 18, 18-30, 30-50, 50 and above. Maximum percentage of gutka consumption was found among men followed by bidi and cigarette and then a small percentage of persons taking smoking tobacco by pipe and chewing tobacco with lime among age group 30-50 and 50 and above was found due to illiteracy and habit. Among women a small amount of population was found to be taking tobacco products i.e. gutka was consumed by 18% population and bidi 5%, chewing tobacco 12% only among old women in the age group 30-50 and 50 above was found. Nearly 43% population knew that, tobacco consumption is injurious to health. Among them children constituted the maximum percentage due to the guidance by teachers in school. The major causes were relief from stress after lot of work and in group.

Tobacco: Its historical, cultural, oral, and periodontal health association

This article provides information on the origin of tobacco and its subsequent spread throughout the world. In the era of the migration of communities, tobacco use gradually gained access and subsequently migrated along with the migrants, establishing in different locations. Probably at that time people were unaware of the health hazards and were using tobacco in treating certain ailments. Much has been known and written about tobacco in the context of oral and general health hazards but little has been explored and is known to many about where from and how this plant, which is now used in various forms, and speading widely. In what form, where, and how it had been served in religious rituals and considered for treatment or remedy of certain ailments in those days could not certainly be known. In the 21st century, people are considering hazardous tobacco as beneficial for their teeth, good for concentration of mind, and something which keeps them engaged. Even many professionals, though knowing the deleterious effects, are still using tobacco and gutkha in one or the other form. This article has been designed to revive the awareness for health hazards of tobacco and similar products. A pilot project questionnaire survey comprising this subject involving the educated mass has already been started and will be produced after analysis of data in part II of this paper.

Awareness of Tobacco-Related Health Hazards among Adults in China

To determine the level of awareness of the hazards of tobacco smoking and secondhand smoke inhalation among adults in China. Household surveys were conducted with a total of 13,354 respondents aged 15 years or over from 100 counties of 28 Chinese provinces using a stratified multi-stage geographically clustered sample design. The findings revealed that 81.8% of the population was aware that smoking causes serious diseases, and 27.2% and 38.7% were aware that smoking causes stroke and heart attack, respectively. Only 64.3% of respondents were aware that secondhand smoke can cause serious diseases, and 27.5%, 51.0%, and 52.6% were aware that secondhand smoke causes heart disease in adults, lung disease in children and lung cancer in adults, respectively. Awareness regarding smoking-related hazards across all participants was significantly associated with several factors, including gender, smoking status, urban/rural residency, education level and exposure to tobacco control publicity in the last 30 days. Awareness regarding tobacco-related hazards in smokers was significantly associated with urban/rural residency, education level, exposure to tobacco control publicity in the last 30 days, and physician's advice. Awareness relating to the hazards of inhaling secondhand smoke was associated with smoking status, urban/rural residency, age, education level, and exposure to tobacco control publicity in the last 30 days. Medical professionals were found to know more about the health hazards of tobacco compared with people in other types of employment. Overall awareness of the health hazards of tobacco has improved in the last 15 years in China, but is still relatively poor. Improved means of communicating information and more effective warning labels on cigarette packaging are necessary for increasing public awareness of tobacco hazards, particularly among rural residents and people with less education.