Prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use in a rural population of tamil nadu, india

Background: Tobacco and alcohol use are serious public health problems in many countries including India because of the associated health hazards. In contrast to urban areas, there are relatively few data on the prevalence of risk factors among rural population in various age-groups from Tamil Nadu. So, a study was conducted to estimate prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use in a rural population in Tamil Nadu, India. Methods: A cross sectional was carried out over a period of one year from August 2010 to July 2011 in the field practice area of PSG Rural Health Centre, Neelambur attached to the Department of Community Medicine, PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Coimbatore. Data collection was done by semi-structured, semi-open ended interview-based questionnaire. Results: Out of 1464 study participants, 244 (16.7%) were smokers. Smokeless tobacco usage was found in 168 (11.5%) study participants whereas 191 (13%) were using Beedi and 85 (5.8%) were using Cigarette. Alcohol consumption in the last 12 months was found in 207 (14.1%) study participants. Among those consuming alcohol, most of them were consuming Beer 176 (85%) followed by Rum 54 (26.1%) and Whiskey 40 (19.3%). Conclusions: prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use was high in this rural population proximal to urban area in Tamil Nadu. There is an urgent need for health promotion campaigns to raise awareness regarding risk factors such as smoking, alcohol, overweight and encourage adoption of healthy lifestyles.