Prevalence and patterns of tobacco use among woman in Benin city, Nigeria

[摘要] Background: Tobacco use is one of the single biggest causes of preventable deaths and isincreasingly affecting developing countries and men and women alike. Tobacco use ishistorically more common in men but is becoming more common among women. In theabsence of population-based health information in many dev eloping countries and sub-Saharan Africa in particular, public health planning and priority setting is in disarray.Most of the prevalence studies on tobacco have concentrated on smoked tobacco andmen in particular. This cross-sectional study design looked at the prevalence, patternsand determinants of tobacco use among women in Benin City, an urban area in Nigeria.Methods: 491 face-to-face interviews were conducted in 45 enumeration areasrandomly sampled in Oredo LGA in Benin City, Nigeria. Twelve households wererandomly sampled in each EA and eligible woman over the age of 18 years wasidentified in each household.Results: The prevalence of tobacco use was 8.8% comprising of smoking (3.3%) andsmokeless (5.5%) initiation occur during the teenage years mostly. Smoking cigaretteswas more common among the younger, more educated women and Tabba (a mixture ofpowdered dry tobacco leaf and sodium bicarbonate) used mostly by older less educatedwomen (RR = 3.10, CI = 1.01 - 9.48). The participants perceived friends using tobaccoas a reason for their starting to use tobacco. Determinants of tobacco use wereeducation, exposure to tobacco advertising and / or promotions which occurs almostunrestricted despite some tobacco control legislations.Dr. OV Okwuolise; 0209663K/2005 Page 2 of 2Conclusions: The findings suggest that tobacco use is going on unhindered and unlesssomething is done to curtail the activities of the tobacco industry, a major public healthcatastrophe is looming.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand