TITLE:
Smokeless Tobacco Use among Women in Kasama District-Zambia
AUTHORS:
Gloria Kangwa, Caroline Zulu, Kabwe Chitundu, Jamia Milanzi
KEYWORDS:
Smokeless Tobacco Use, Knowledge, Educational Level, Cultural Belief
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biosciences and Medicines,
Vol.12 No.6,
June
20,
2024
ABSTRACT: Background: Smokeless tobacco is defined as a product that contains tobacco, is not smoked or burned at the time of use, and commonly consumed orally or nasally. These products can be placed in the mouth, cheek or the lip and are sucked or chewed. The Zambian government, in the 2019 country report, gave an estimated figure of 4.5% of females aged 15 years and above in 2017 used smokeless tobacco and by 31st December, 2018, there was an increase of smokeless tobacco users to 6.8% women of the same age group. This study aimed to explore the extent of smokeless tobacco use among women in Kasama district-Zambia. Methodology: An analytical cross-sectional quantitative study design was used to collect data using the modified structured interview schedule, adopted from Medicine for Global Health. Simple random sampling method using rotary technique was used to select 430 respondents after meeting the inclusion criteria. Informed consent to participate in the study was obtained. Data was analysed using version 26.0 of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Appropriate parametric or non-parametric statistical tests (Chi-squared or Fisher’s exact test) were adopted in testing for associations between variables. Univariable and multivariable binary logistic regression analysis were employed in identifying smokeless tobacco use among women using an investigator-led stepwise approach, guided by various fit statistics and the likelihood ratio test. All statistical analyses adopted a 5% significance level at 95% confidence interval. Results: The results showed that most of the respondents were aged between 18 and 25 years (45.6%), (53.7%) lived in urban settlements and the majority (80%) were unemployed. The majority of respondents (83.5%) had a friend/relative who used smokeless tobacco and over half (53.5%) thought smokeless tobacco was beneficial to them. The commonly mentioned benefits of smokeless tobacco included body warmth (13.6%) and vaginal tightening (7.9%). The results revealed that most of the respondents attained a secondary level of education (38.4%). According to the study, smokeless tobacco use among women of Kasama-Zambia was significantly associated with the following; age (p Conclusion: Based on these findings, the study recommends that efforts should be channeled towards the dissemination of information on the impacts of smokeless tobacco use in order to overcome cultural beliefs attached to smokeless tobacco use.