Prevalence of smoking among adult males in Colombo District, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The study aimed to estimate prevalence of smoking among adult males in the district of Colombo Methods: A community based cross-sectional study drew a representative sample of males aged 20-59 years (n=1200) the district and the information on smoking was gathered using an interviewer-administered questionnaire designed based on the classification by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention of United States. Results: Prevalence of ever smoking among adult males in Colombo district was 54.1% (95% CI 51.0-57.2). Prevalence of current smokers was 36.5% (95% CI 33.8%-39.3%) while prevalence of former smokers was 17.6% (95% CI 15.3%- 19.9%) Prevalence of ever smoking was higher among >40 years old (p<0.0001), with lower educational qualifications (p<0.01), married (p=0.002) and not having children (p<0.0001). Among current and former smokers, 98.0% (612/624) were consuming cigarettes while 9.9% (62/624) were bidi smokers. The current daily smokers smoked a significantly lesser number of mean cigarettes per day (7.7, SD=6.6) compared to former daily smokers (mean cigarettes per day 12.92, SD=15.5). Among current smokers 60.3% (n=254) had attempted to quit smoking at least once in their life with an average of 3.2 quit attempts. Conclusion: The prevalence of ever and current tobacco smoking among adult males in Colombo district was high. Smokers were more likely to beelders, less educated, married and without children and authorities should be advocated on focused efforts to prevent smoking among them. High rate of failed quit attempts indicate poor support which needs to be brought to the attention of the authorities.