Cigarette smoking prevalence, intention to quit and associated factors in Kinondoni, Dar es Salaam

Abstract

Background: Cigarette smoking is the biggest avoidable cause of death and disability globally. It is estimated that there are about 1.3 billion tobacco smokers worldwide where by about half of them will die prematurely due to smoking. Deaths from smoking are projected to increase to more than 10 million a year by the years 2030 by which time 70% of these deaths will be in the developing countries including Tanzania. While the prevalence of smoking is decreasing in the developed world, there has been a continuous rise of smoking prevalence in the developing countries. If the present smokers are not assisted to quit, about 450 million would die by 2050. While developed countries are investing into cessation programs, quitting in the developing countries is rare. Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to determine the smoking prevalence, intention of the current smokers to quit smoking and the factors associated with the decision to quit or not to quit smoking. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at Kinondoni district in Dar es Salaam where by a geographically clustered multistage sampling methodology was used to select participants from households. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from one member randomly selected from each household in the picked divisions found at Kinondoni municipal in Dar es Salaam. Analysis was done using SPSS computer software; Chi-square tests were done to explain the association between cigarette smoking, intention to quit smoking and other socio demographic factors. Results: 379 respondents were interviewed, the prevalence of smoking was found to be 27.9% among men and 3.5% among women. About 90% of these smokers were either planning or thinking about quitting someday. Knowledge that smoking is dangerous to health was the factor mostly associated to quitting. Only 15% of the respondents had high nicotine dependence. Conclusion and recommendations: The prevalence of smoking in this district is higher than the WHO regional prevalence; majority of these smokers would like to quit smoking although they do not know how. Understanding that smoking is dangerous to their health is the major reason why they will quit. Collective effort is required to educate people on the methods and options to take when one is considering quitting; smoking cessation program is an immediate requirement.