Tobacco use among rural Nepalese women: Cross-sectional community based study

Tobacco use is responsible for a considerable number of morbidity and mortality in the world. Annually 14,000 deaths are attributed to tobacco use in Nepal. Despite having social acceptability of tobacco in Nepalese society, little has been known about tobacco use among rural women. The aim of this study was to report the prevalence of and examine the factors associated with tobacco consumption among women of reproductive age in a rural community of Dailekh district of Nepal. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was descriptive, cross-sectional study carried out among women of reproductive age in the rural community of Dailekh district. A random sampling was used to obtain 110 women aged 15-49 years. RESULTS: More than two in five were tobacco user and among them 4 in 5 used smoked form of tobacco. This study showed early initiation of tobacco using habit (mean: 14.96 year) where 92% of participants initiated <19 years. Influencing factors for initiation of tobacco use was peer's pressure (95.8%), and respondents reported that they used tobacco to reduce stress (37.5%). CONCLUSION: Tobacco using pattern was high in reproductive age group women. Knowledge and perceptions on tobacco use were poor. Hence, an effective and appropriate community based awareness programs are required to discourage the use of tobacco.