National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India.
Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2010 Jan;36(1):73-7. doi: 10.3109/00952990903575814.
Prevalence of tobacco use in India is reaching alarming proportions, despite efforts by both World Health Organization (WHO) and Government of India (GOI) in controlling it. Part of the problem has been lack of available data on tobacco use in various groups. Although Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) and National Family Health Survey (NFHS) III have focused on adolescents and adults, respectively, data on use among young adults is lacking. Another limitation has been the use of the questionnaire method to determine tobacco use which may not reveal exact prevalence. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of tobacco use among young adult males in Ranchi, as confirmed by serum cotinine levels.
Five-hundred male students were selected through systematic randomized process to represent 5 universities in Ranchi. After informed consent, the students were administered Tobacco and Other Substance Use questionnaire and then subjected to urine Rapid Nicotine Test to improve sensitivity and biologically confirm prevalence. All tobacco users then were administered Fagerstrom's Scale for Severity of Nicotine Dependence.
Biologically confirmed prevalence of tobacco use among male students was 55.6%, revealing high degree of prevalence in this age group. Predominant form of tobacco use was cigarettes (78%) followed by khaini (20%) and gutkha (2%), showing that most young adults use cigarettes possibly due to the 'cool image' associated with it. Seventy-seven percent of all tobacco users want to quit, thereby giving a strong opportunity to carry out cessation services in this group. There was higher mean Fagerstrom's Scale for Severity of Nicotine Dependence (FTND) score in smokers (6.7 +/- 2.2) compared to chewers (4.6 +/- 2.5), revealing higher severity of dependence among smokers than chewers.
尽管世界卫生组织（WHO）和印度政府（GOI）都在努力控制，但印度的烟草使用流行率仍达到了惊人的程度。部分问题是缺乏各种群体烟草使用的可用数据。虽然全球青年烟草调查（GYTS）和国家家庭健康调查（NFHS）III 分别侧重于青少年和成年人，但缺乏年轻人使用烟草的数据。另一个限制因素是使用问卷方法来确定烟草使用情况，这可能无法准确反映流行率。本研究旨在通过血清可替宁水平来确定在 Ranchi 的年轻成年男性中烟草使用的流行率。
通过系统随机过程选择了 500 名男性学生，以代表 Ranchi 的 5 所大学。在获得知情同意后，学生们接受了烟草和其他物质使用问卷，然后进行尿液快速尼古丁测试以提高敏感性并从生物学上确认流行率。所有烟草使用者随后接受了尼古丁依赖严重程度的 Fagerstrom 量表评估。
通过生物学确认的男性学生烟草使用流行率为 55.6%，这表明该年龄段的流行率很高。烟草使用的主要形式是香烟（78%），其次是 khaini（20%）和 gutkha（2%），这表明大多数年轻成年人可能因为与香烟相关的“酷形象”而使用香烟。所有烟草使用者中有 77%希望戒烟，因此为该群体开展戒烟服务提供了很好的机会。吸烟者的 Fagerstrom 量表评估尼古丁依赖严重程度（FTND）平均得分（6.7 +/- 2.2）高于咀嚼者（4.6 +/- 2.5），这表明吸烟者比咀嚼者的依赖程度更高。
