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Abstract
To estimate the prevalence and the socioeconomic and demographic correlates of tobacco
consumption in India.
Cross sectional, nationally representative population based household survey.
315 598 individuals 15 years or older from 91 196 households were sampled in National
Family Health Survey-2 (1998-99). Data on tobacco consumption were elicited from household
informants. Measures and methods: Prevalence of current smoking and current chewing
of tobacco were used as outcome measures. Simple and two way cross tabulations and
multivariate logistic regression analysis were the main analytical methods.
Thirty per cent of the population 15 years or older-47% men and 14% of women-either
smoked or chewed tobacco, which translates to almost 195 million people-154 million
men and 41 million women in India. However, the prevalence may be underestimated by
almost 11% and 1.5% for chewing tobacco among men and women, respectively, and by
5% and 0.5% for smoking among men and women, respectively, because of use of household
informants. Tobacco consumption was significantly higher in poor, less educated, scheduled
castes and scheduled tribe populations. The prevalence of tobacco consumption increased
up to the age of 50 years and then levelled or declined. The prevalence of smoking
and chewing also varied widely between different states and had a strong association
with individual's sociocultural characteristics.
The findings of the study highlight that an agenda to improve health outcomes among
the poor in India must include effective interventions to control tobacco use. Failure
to do so would most likely result in doubling the burden of diseases-both communicable
and non-communicable-among India's teeming poor. There is a need for periodical surveys
using more consistent definitions of tobacco use and eliciting information on different
types of tobacco consumed. The study also suggests a need to adjust the prevalence
estimates based on household informants.