• Thirunavukkarasu Sathish, Srinivasan Kannan, Sarma P Sankara PS Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India., and Kavumpurathu Raman Thankappan.
• Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia speaktosat@gmail.com.
• Asia Pac J Public Health. 2015 Mar 1; 27 (2): NP626-9.

AbstractWe analyzed data from a cohort study in rural Kerala, India, to study the incidence of current smoking and current smokeless tobacco use. At baseline, of 452 individuals aged 15 to 64 years, 385 were current nonsmokers and 402 were current nonusers of smokeless tobacco. Over a mean follow-up of 7.1 ± 0.2 years, 5.5% became current smokers and 9.0% became current smokeless tobacco users. Among men, 21.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 11.1-36.4) of younger individuals (15-24 years) became current smokers and 22.2% (CI = 10.6-40.8) of older individuals (55-64 years) became current smokeless tobacco users. No women smoked both at baseline and at follow-up, but 9.7% (CI = 3.4-24.9) of older women (55-64 years) became current smokeless tobacco users. These findings call for effective implementation of India's Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003. © 2013 APJPH.

25 keywords...

hide…