title: Incidence of tobacco use among adults (15-64 years) in rural Kerala.
abstract: We analyzed data from a cohort study in rural Kerala, India, to study the incidence of current smoking and current smokeless tobacco use. At baseline, of 452 individuals aged 15 to 64 years, 385 were current nonsmokers and 402 were current nonusers of smokeless tobacco. Over a mean follow-up of 7.1 ± 0.2 years, 5.5% became current smokers and 9.0% became current smokeless tobacco users. Among men, 21.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 11.1-36.4) of younger individuals (15-24 years) became current smokers and 22.2% (CI = 10.6-40.8) of older individuals (55-64 years) became current smokeless tobacco users. No women smoked both at baseline and at follow-up, but 9.7% (CI = 3.4-24.9) of older women (55-64 years) became current smokeless tobacco users. These findings call for effective implementation of India's Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003.
authors.affiliation: Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia speaktosat@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Thirunavukkarasu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sathish
authors.affiliation: Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Srinivasan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kannan
authors.affiliation: Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: P Sankara
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Sarma
authors.affiliation: Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Kavumpurathu Raman
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Thankappan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population; D064424:Tobacco Use / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D014030:Tobacco, Smokeless; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: India; Kerala; cohort study; incidence; rural; smokeless tobacco use; smoking