Syed Arif Pasha et al PREVALENCE AND EXISTING QUITTING PATTERN OF CHEWING TOBACCO AMONG URBAN POPULATION Int J Cur Res Rev, Dec 2013/ Vol 05 (24) Page 10 IJCRR Vol 05 issue 24 Section: Healthcare Category: Research Received on: 07/10/13 Revised on: 29/10/13 Accepted on: 02/12/13 PREVALENCE AND EXISTING QUITTING PATTERN OF CHEWING TOBACCO AMONG URBAN POPULATION Syed Arif Pasha 1 , Muneeb Jehan 2 , Abdullah Rehman 2 , Umrana Mirza 2 1 Deccan College of Hospital Management, Kanchan Bagh, Hyderabad, A.P., India 2 Deccan College of Medical Sciences, Kanchan Bagh, Hyderabad, AP, India E-mail of Corresponding Author: drsapasha@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Background: Awareness towards tobacco hazards has increased recently but its role alone towards cessation is still under debate. For effective formulation of quitting strategies, knowledge regarding quitting behavior is necessary to study and hence a cross-sectional study was carried out in Hyderabad city. Objectives: 1.To study prevalence of different forms of chewing tobacco and its quitting patterns in urban area. 2. To study quitting patterns in relation to various personal and family background factors. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional research involves 3000 individuals from randomly selected 30 clusters by two stage cluster sampling method for this research during June –December 2009 from urban area of Hyderabad (India). Pretested, designed and self explained questionnaire was used for interview purpose after taking verbal, written and informed consent with approval from ethical committee. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software. Information was collected on chewing forms, quitting pattern, quitting reasons and health hazards, age of tobacco initiation, duration of tobacco chewing, daily frequency, family exposure of tobacco and knowledge regarding health hazards of tobacco. Results: About 58% of study population was ever-tobacco-chewers; 89 % of them were current- chewers and 11 % were quitters. Approximately 18 % of current-consumers were willing to quit. Mawa-masala (73 %) and Gutka (62 %) were preferred forms of chewing tobacco and 60 % of the current-chewers chewed tobacco six to eight times a day. About 51 % smokers and 71 % chewers showing willingness to quit had not consumed tobacco for more than five years, 69 % of current- chewers had a family member consuming tobacco. With initiation of health problems, 62 % subjects quit while 38 % of them already knew about health hazards but not willing to quit. Conclusions: Every 7 out of 10 residents were found to be exposed to chewing tobacco. With Mawa- masala and Gutka as a primary source of consumption, early usage in late adolescence, continuous consumption for long time and family as well as friend circle exposure seem to be inhibiting quitting. Awareness of tobacco health hazards only does not produce successful quitting results. Keywords: tobacco, chewing, health hazard, quitting INTRODUCTION Today it is known that tobacco use continues to be the leading global cause of preventable death. It kills nearly 6 million people and causes hundreds of billions of dollars of economic damage worldwide each year. Most of these deaths occur in Low and Middle-income countries, and this disparity is expected to widen further over the next several decades. If current trends continue, by 2030 tobacco will kill more than 8 million people worldwide each year, with 80% of these premature deaths among people living in Low and Middle-