Pattern of tobacco use and nicotine dependence among adolescents in Chennai

Introduction Tobacco causes major health problems. Tobacco is a serious public health problem. With the current trend of global tobacco use, it is estimated that 250 million children and adolescents living today will die prematurely from tobacco, most of them in developing countries. Various methods for controlling tobacco use have been implemented by different countries. The World Health Organization's (WHO) Tobacco Free Initiative and, eventually, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control marked a turning point in tobacco control history. Aim To find the Pattern of tobacco use and nicotine dependence among adolescents in Chennai. Materials and methodsFagerstrom nicotine dependence questionnaire was circulated as google survey forms and 150 responses were collected. Results were analysed using SPSS software version 23.0 using Pearson chi - square test. Results Out of 150 responses, 96% male were tobacco users. Among smoking tobacco users 48.67% smokers had moderate dependency level and 17.33% of the smokers had high dependency level. Among smokeless tobacco users 24% of them had moderate dependency level and 24.67% of them had high dependency level. Conclusion The present study concludes that adolescents are more prone to tobacco usage. Tobacco prevalence is high among male population with low education level and low to moderate socioeconomic status. Counselling should be done to tobacco users. Awareness against tobacco should be created.