National Journal of Community Medicine│Volume 8│Issue 2│Feb 2017 Page 52 ORIGINAL ARTICLE pISSN 0976 3325│eISSN 2229 6816 Open Access Article www.njcmindia.org Tobacco Use, Its Correlates and Knowledge about Its Hazards in Belgaum Urban, Karnataka Amaresh P Patil 1 , Manjula Patil 2 , Shobha Karikatti 3 , Sunanda Halki 4 Financial Support: None declared Conflict of Interest: None declared Copy Right: The Journal retains the copyrights of this article. However, re- production of this article in the part or total in any form is permissible with due acknowledgement of the source. How to cite this article: Patil AP, Patil M, Karikatti S, Halki S. Tobacco Use, Its Correlates and Knowledge about Its Hazards in Bel- gaum Urban, Karnataka. Ntl J Com- munity Med 2017; 8(2):52-56. Author’s Affiliation: 1 Postgraduate, Dept of Community, Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belagavi; 2 Asst Prof; 3 Asso. Prof; 4 Asst Prof cum Statistician, Dept of Community Medicine, Belagavi In- stitute of Medical Sciences, Belagavi Correspondence: Dr. Amaresh P Patil amareshpatilp@gmail.com Date of Submission: 08-10-16 Date of Acceptance: 27-02-17 Date of Publication: 28-02-17 ABSTRACT Background: Owing to the presence of impressionable, curious minds, adolescents are highly prone to experiment with tobacco which increases the risk of addicting to tobacco and thus of disease and death. This study was conducted to know the factors associat- ed with tobacco consumption and knowledge related to health hazards in an urban area. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was done in urban area of Belgaum during July to December 2011. Sample size was calculated to be 238 and subjects were interviewed from ran- domly chosen anganwadis of all the wards of UHTC. Results: Among the tobacco users, 10.29 % had initiated the habit before the age of 18 years. All the 28 consumers above the age group of 50 were consuming tobacco from more than 10 years while 24 of those between 30-49 years were consuming from more than 10 years. Among 68 current users, 8 had attempted to quit to- bacco. Almost 90 % of the tobacco users knew that tobacco causes cancers. Conclusions: Association between increase in age and duration of use was highly significant. Curiosity or fun and peer pressure were the most common reasons for tobacco initiation. Keywords: Onset of tobacco, tobacco use, tobacco quit attempts, knowledge of health hazards. INTRODUCTION The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing around 6 million people a year. More than 5 mil- lion of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600 000 are the result of non- smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. 1 According to World Health Organization, no single factor could have as much impact on the rising toll of cardiovascular deaths around the world as tobacco cessation does. 2 More than 80 percent of all Non communicable diseases (NCD) in India are attributed to four dis- eases, namely cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. It is well known that tobacco consumption is a major risk factor for these NCD’s. 3 There are over many diseases that are caused, in- creased or exacerbated by tobacco in the form of acute gastritis, predisposition to hypertension, dia- betes mellitus, coronary artery disease, bronchial asthma. Tobacco is also associated with cancer of respiratory tract, lungs, upper gastrointestinal tract, liver, pancreas, kidney, urinary bladder, oral cavity, nasal cavity, cervix etc. Smokeless tobacco is a major cause of cancer of oral cavity. 4 Nearly 45% of all cancers among males and 17% among females in India and more than 80% of oral cancers are directly attributable to tobacco use. 5 Quitting smoking cuts cardiovascular risks and within 2 to 5 years after quitting, risk for stroke could fall to about the same as a nonsmoker’s. Quitting smoking also reduces risks for cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder by half