E-poster Presentation 2014 World Cancer Congress

Prevalence and  Determinants of  Tobacco use   among  Restaurant employees in Mumbai, India . (#843)

Sharmila Pimple 1 , Parishi Mazmudar 1 , Gauravi Mishra 1 , Ashok Patil 1 , Surendra Shastri 1
  1. Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India

Background:India  introduced complete ban on smoking in hospitality venues  with the introduction of   the  Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA 2003)which aims to regulate both smoking and smokeless forms of tobacco.. Since the  personal behavior practices of food handlers  in restaurants  demands that  they should  not smoke or use tobacco where food products are handled, Investigation was carried out to understand the extent of tobacco use and its addiction among  employees  in restaurants in Mumbai

 

Aim: To estimate  the prevalence  and  determinants of  tobacco  use among  food handling  restaurant employees .

Methods: Representative random sample of restaurants from two administrative wards in Mumbai  was undertaken  through  two  stage sampling process. Socio demographic and  information on  tobacco  use were collected by pretested structured questionnaire among restaurant workers handling food between September-December 2013. Nicotine addiction was measured using the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence.     

Results:Total 210  food handler employees from   26 eating establishments  were  surveyed for tobacco use. Majority (65.7%) were between the age group of 18-25 years and 116 (55.2%) were found to be current tobacco users. Smokeless tobacco  use was most common (63.7%). 51.7%  had initiated tobacco use before 18 years of age  and   nearly  57.8% were graded with medium to high Fagerstrom addiction score. Regression analysis showed  Illiteracy (OR=0.5, CI 0.28, 0.96; P=.03),  Religion (OR= 2.57, CI 1.55, 5.77; P=0.022) ,  Marital status  (OR=0.51, CI 0.26, 1.01 ; P =.05  )  were associated with tobacco use after controlling for age .

Conclusions:Findings of the survey  suggests  high  prevalence of  tobacco use  among  young males  working in the eating establishments with a medium to high tobacco addiction with majority of them initiating tobacco use as minors. The study findings calls for targeted tobacco  prevention and cessation efforts  for these  mostly  unorganized workers  under the organized hospitality industry.