Perceptions of young male smokers in Visakhapatnam about tobacco use and control measures

Research question: What are the perceptions of young smokers about smoking and their felt needs for tobacco control. Materials & Methods: Observational cross-sectional study among young current smokers in the age group of 15 -25 yrs residing in Visakhapatnam City. A sample of 250 males was interviewed at randomly selected cigarette selling paan shops using a semi-structured questionnaire. Variables included socio demographic characteristics, education level and age when smoking was initiated, reasons for initiation, presence of associated factors, willingness to quit smoking and perceptions on anti-tobacco measures based on a scoring system. Results: Among 250 smokers, 41.2% initiated smoking before or at 18 yrs of age. Mean age at initiation was 19 yrs +/-2.34 years. The commonest reason for initiation of smoking was for relaxation (43%). Other common reasons were ‘for style’ (28%), for fun (24%) and influence of friends/peer bonding (23.6%). Among the subjects 74.4% were willing to quit smoking at some point and among these nearly 70% had made one or more attempts to quit smoking. The leading motive to quit smoking was for better health in future (71%) and 55 % were willing to join smoking cessation programs. Large portion of subject (83.2%) knew that smoking can cause cancer, however only 24.8% and 7% knew of effects on respiratory system and cardiovascular system. More than 70 % of the subjects were of opinion that ‘ban on smoking in public places’ and ‘ban on sale around educational institutions’ were to be strictly implemented. Among the various anti-tobacco measures, the study population perceived that the most effective measure would be “teaching the harmful effects of smoking in schools” with a total score of 236. Conclusion: There is felt need for smoking cessation program and necessity for school based smoking prevention programs.