PREVALENCE OF TOBACCO USE AMONG THE ADULT MALES IN A SOUTH INDIAN VILLAGE

BACKGROUND: Tobacco usage is widely prevalent in both the developed and developing countries. It is one of the important preventable causes of premature death in developing countries. It has been estimated that nearly 50% of men are dependent on some form of tobacco use. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The aim of the study was to find out the prevalence of tobacco usage among the adult male population in rural areas. The objectives were to find out the tobacco usage in various forms and the impact of pictorial warnings on the packing to quit tobacco. A cross sectional observational study was conducted in Pedaparimi village of Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, Rural Field Practice area of NRI Medical College, Guntur for 3 months (from January to March 2014). Ten percent of the houses were studied using systematic random sampling method. The data was collected from 105 adult male respondents residing in the village. RESULTS: 71.4% of the respondents ever used tobacco, of them nearly 61% are current users, and 28.6% never used tobacco in any form. Smoking by far was the popular method of tobacco intake (96%); cigarette smoking was popular among 38.7% of the respondents, followed by cigar (32.0%) and beedi (25.3%). Nearly two-thirds (67.2%) of the current tobacco users attempted to quit tobacco previously and failed. 51.4% were aware regarding the ill effects of exposure to second hand smoke. 29.5% of the respondents were not aware of the pictorial warnings depicted on the various tobacco products. CONCLUSION: There is high prevalence of tobacco use in the present study village as like in any other villages in the country. There should be a national effort to prevent any further increase in the prevalence of tobacco use, especially among the vulnerable groups. Changes in the pictorial warnings depicted on the tobacco products to have an effect on awareness of the diseases caused and cessation of the use is needed.