title: Poverty does not limit tobacco consumption in Cambodia: quantitative estimate of tobacco use under conditions of no income and adult malnutrition.
abstract: Current data indicate that under conditions of poverty, tobacco is consumed at the expense of basic needs. In a large national sample from Cambodia, we sought to determine whether tobacco consumption declines under extreme conditions of no income and malnutrition. Our major findings are as follows: (1) Among men, there was no significant difference in the number of cigarettes smoked for no income (425, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 395-456) versus >US$2 per day (442, 95% CI = 407-477); (2) among women, there was no significant difference in the amount of loose tobacco (ie, betel quid) consumed for no income (539 g, 95% CI = 441-637) versus >US$2 per day (558 g, 95% CI = 143-973); (3) for the contrast of no income + malnutrition versus >US$2 per day + no malnutrition in a linear model, there was no significant difference for men who smoked (462 vs 517 cigarettes/month, P = .82) or women who chewed (316 vs 404 g tobacco/month, P = .34), adjusting for confounders. Among the poorest and malnourished Cambodian adults, lack of resources did not appear to prevent them from obtaining smoked or smokeless tobacco.
authors.affiliation: 1Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Pramil N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Dawn
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Washburn
authors.forename: Daravuth
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yel
authors.forename: They
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kheam
authors.forename: Jayakaran S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Job
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002160:Cambodia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D064424:Tobacco Use / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014030:Tobacco, Smokeless / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: epidemiology; nutrition/dietetics; population health; population studies; public health; smoking/tobacco/drug abuse