High prevalence of tobacco consumption and inequalities in Lenca population, Intibucá, Honduras, 2015.

Abstract

Background: Approximately one sixth of the world’s population smokes, 24% prevalence. WHO believes that, by not changing trends, during the 21st century tobacco will be responsible for the premature death of one billion people. Objective: To determine the prevalence of tobacco consumption and measure socioeconomic inequalities in Lencas, Intibucá, 2015. Methods: Cross-sectional association study. Structured form has been applied to collect general, sociodemographic and smoking data, with prior informed consent. Tobacco dependence was evaluated with Faguerström test. Databases were prepared in Epi-info-7 and SPSS-18. Odds ratios (OR) was calculated. Results: From a total of 602 interviews, 167 smokers were identified with prevalence of 27.7%. The 76.6% (128) of smokers had low nicotine dependence and 23.4% (39) remaining moderate. The mean of monthly income was USD$193 in smokers and USD$168 for not smokers. The 40.1% (67) of smokers spent at least USD$95 monthly on tobacco. Relation between tobacco consumption and monthly income were not found OR = 0.87 (95% CI 0.7-1.0) neither with illiteracy OR = 1.20 (95% CI 0.7-2.0). Discussion: No significant differences were observed between tobacco consumption and socioeconomic variables; a high prevalence of consumption was found in this population in relation to other studies carried out in the country. The results support the need for policies focused on tobacco prevention among indigenous people.