Factors Associated with Smoking Intensity in Adult Male Smokers

Factors associated with smoking intensity

Abstract

Background: Smoking is an epidemic and matter of public health concern. Often smokers as well as other members of the society are unaware of the harmful effects of smoking and very few have knowledge in regards to the factors that contribute to the behavior of smoking.Such knowledge if known can help the society and policymakers to develop support systems and strategies to help smokers to quit smoking and develop a healthy lifestyle.Aim: The aim of the study was to observe the factors prevalent and associated with intensity of smoking.Materials and Method: This cross-sectional study was carried out from July 2006 to June 2007 with 75 male smokers as participants (age 20-50 years) who were divided in to 3 groups of light smokers (2-9 cigarettes smoked/day),moderate smokers (10-19 cigarettes  smoked /day) and heavy smokers (20 or more cigarettes smoked/day). The socio-demographic features like age of ,BMI, Occupation, education level, monthly family income and marital status and also the age of onset of smoking, number of years of smoking were analyzed to report the factors more prevalent among the smokers. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Armonk, NY; IBM Corp]. Data were expressed as frequency, percentage and mean±SD. p value was obtained from †One way ANOVA and Chi Square test. Results: Those smokers who were service holders were heavy smokers (84% of the participants), smoking 20 or more cigarettes per day (p 0.005). Those with monthly family income of less than Taka 15000 had a higher intensity of smoking (76%) compared to those whose monthly income was equal to or more than Taka 15000 (24%). The forest plot diagram revealed occupation to be moderate to heavy smoking. Conclusion: The findings of the study reveal certain factors that may influence intensity of smoking among smokers. Determining such factors may help develop policies to rehabilitate smokers and improve their quality of life.

J Med Coll Women Hosp.2025; 21 (2):27-35