A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON TOBACCO USE AND IT'S CORRELATES AMONG ADOLESCENT BOYS IN KAMRUP (METRO) AND KAMRUP (RURAL) DISTRICT OF ASSAM

Achyut Chandra Baishya; Jutika Ojah; Pankaj Jyoti Barman; Sthapana Sharma

Volume : VIII, Issue : IX, September - 2019

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON TOBACCO USE AND IT'S CORRELATES AMONG ADOLESCENT BOYS IN KAMRUP (METRO) AND KAMRUP (RURAL) DISTRICT OF ASSAM

Achyut Chandra Baishya, Jutika Ojah, Pankaj Jyoti Barman, Sthapana Sharma

Abstract :

Introduction– In Assam, sharp rise of tobacco use is seen in the last decade and this habit has influenced people of all ages, including the adolescents. In the recent years, despite various initiatives by the Government tobacco use by adolescents is seen to be on the rise in both urban as well as the rural areas of Assam. Materials and methods– The present community based cross sectional study was carried out for a period of 5 months from October 2018 to Feuary 2019 in sampled villages of Kamrup (Rural) district and sampled wards of Kamrup (Metro) District. A total of 300 adolescent boys from each district were included in the study. A predesigned & pretested interview schedule was used to interview the respondents. Results– In Kamrup (M) district, 26.3% of the adolescent boys use tobacco while in Kamrup (R) district, 24.6% of the adolescent boys use tobacco. In Kamrup (M) district 42 (14%) participants use smoking product and 57 (19%) use smokeless product. Both smoking and smokeless tobacco products are used by 6.7% of the total respondents. In Kamrup (R) district, 48 (16%) participants use smoking product and 42 (14%) use smokeless product. Both smoking and smokeless tobacco products are used by 5.3% of the total respondents. Cigarette and Gutkha are the most commonly used products in both Kamrup (M) and Kamrup (R) district. Conclusion– The most important factors affecting smokeless tobacco use by adolescents in Assam are easy availability of these products, promotion and advertisements by the manufacturers. Present situation demands more awareness raising campaigns, training and workshop of school teachers and health workers to make adolescents aware of ill effects of tobacco products