Smoking among adults in Sri Lanka -Facts and figures

Abstract

Abstract : Objectives: To determine the prevalence and patterns of smoking among different socio-demographic groups in Sri Lanka. Methodology: A nationally representative cross sectional study was conducted in 7 out of 9 provinces in Sri Lanka. A sample of 4532 adults above 18 years of age were recruited by a multistage random cluster sampling technique. An intervieweradministrated-questionnaire was used to collect data. RESULTS: Among 4547 adults 40% were males. The mean age was 45 years. The prevalence of current smoking among males was 23.4% and females 0.2%. There were 20.8% male and 0.2% female ex- smokers. Patterns of smoking among males Among male smokers 18.5%, 38.3% and 1.9% smoked less than one, 1 to 10 and more than 10 cigarettes per day respectively. The age group with the highest percentage of current smoking 27.7% was 40-49 age group while the age group with lowest smoking 1.2% was below 20-year age group. Prevalence was 42.6% among the group with lowest monthly income and 37.5% in the highest (p< 0.0001). The smoking prevalence among those who had education beyond secondary school and those who only had school education were 26.3% and 40.7% (p<0.0001) respectively. Smoking was less among those who have cardiovascular disease or risk factors; Diabetes- 25.5%, Hypertension- 17.1%, Ischeamic Heart Disease22% compared to those without; 39%, 41.2% and 39.1% respectively. Conclusion and Recommendations: Smoking was predominatly seen among males in Sri Lanka and associated with the level of education and income. Prevalencewas less after developing co-morbidities.