PREVALANCE OF TOBACCO CONSUMPTION IN RURAL POPULATION OF PUDUCHERRY

Tobaccosmokinghasbeenassociatedwithmultiplehealthproblemsandisconsidered to be apreventable risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of morbidity andmortality at the globallevel. The aim of this descriptive cross-sectional research study wastoassesstheprevalenceoftobaccoconsumptioninruralpopulationofPuducherry.Atotalof255ruralpopulationswereselectedbyusingamultistagerandomsamplingtechnique.Assessment of the smoking and smokeless tobacco consumption, awareness andknowledgeregardingtobaccoconsumptionweredonebyusingaModifiedGATS(GlobalAdultsTobacco Survey) questionnaire. The collected data were computerized andanalyzed usingSPSSversion 25. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics (distribution, mean,standarddeviation) and inferential statistics (Chi square test).The result shows that theruralpopulation40(15.7%)wereconsumedsmokingtobaccoand36(14.1%)wereconsumedsmokeless tobacco. The factors influencing smoke and smokeless tobacco consumption weredue to lowsocio economic status (11.6%), peer pressure (10.1%) and tobacco consumptionhabits of familymembers (7.8%). None of the demographic variables had shownstatisticallysignificantassociationwiththeprevalenceoftobaccoconsumption.