A Comparative Analysis of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS): Prevalence and Predictors of Tobacco Smoking in Seven Regions of India

AimThis article aims to assess the prevalence of tobacco smoking among the adult study population and also explore the association between socio-demographic factors and tobacco use in the six geographical regions of India. MethodsThis is a cross-sectional comparative research design that used nationally representative population-based household GATS-1 data on tobacco use in India. Six states representing the respective six geographic regions (one state per region) of India were selected using systematic random sampling. The prevalence of tobacco smoking among the study population was calculated and used for comparison between the six regions. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between socio-demographic factors and tobacco smoking in each zone. ResultsThe North-eastern, Central, and Eastern regions had a high prevalence of tobacco smoking. Further, factors such as sex, place of residence, literacy, and working status had a significant association with current use of tobacco (smoking). ConclusionDespite there are policies and legal frameworks to control the use and sell of tobacco in India, the prevalence of tobacco smoking is high, particularly in the North-eastern, Central, and Eastern regions of India. Policies and community-based approaches to provide health education to reduce tobacco smoking are recommended.