Volume : 2, Issue : 5, May - 2013

Pattern and Prevalence of Smoking in Urban and Rural Areas of Aligarh

Riyaz Ahamed S, Athar Ansari

Abstract :

The present community based study was conducted in the field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine, JNMC, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. The aim was to estimate the prevalence of smoking and its pattern in urban and rural areas of Aligarh. Six hundred and fourty individuals were selected by systematic random sampling. Data analyzed with SPSS 17 version. Percentages, and Chi Square Test used. The overall prevalence of smoking was found to be 20.2%. Smoking prevalence was found to be more in rural areas (24.7%) than in urban areas (13.2%). Gender was important predictor of smoking with prevalence more in males than females. Sociodemographic correlates like occupation, education and religion came out to be significantly associated with smoking (P value <0.05). Smoked tobacco prevalence was found to be more in lower socioeconomic class (24.1%) than upper class (2.6%).