Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb 12;18(4):1779.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18041779.

Changes in Tobacco Use Patterns during COVID-19 and Their Correlates among Older Adults in Bangladesh

Sabuj Kanti Mistry  1   2   3 , Armm Mehrab Ali  1   4 , Md Ashfikur Rahman  5 , Uday Narayan Yadav  2   6   7 , Bhawna Gupta  7 , Muhammad Aziz Rahman  8   9 , Rumana Huque  10   11
Affiliations

Changes in Tobacco Use Patterns during COVID-19 and Their Correlates among Older Adults in Bangladesh

Sabuj Kanti Mistry et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The present study explored the changes in tobacco use patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic and their correlates among older adults in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1032 older adults aged ≥60 years in Bangladesh through telephone interviews in October 2020. Participants' characteristics and COVID-19-related information were gathered using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Participants were asked if they noted any change in their tobacco use patterns (smoking or smokeless tobacco) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic (6 months prior to the survey). Nearly half of the participants (45.6%) were current tobacco users, of whom 15.9% reported increased tobacco use during the COVID-19 pandemic and all others had no change in their tobacco use patterns. Tobacco use was significantly increased among the participants from rural areas, who had reduced communications during COVID-19 compared to pre-pandemic (OR = 2.76, 95%CI:1.51-5.03). Participants who were aged ≥70 years (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.14-0.77), widowed (OR = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.13-1.00), had pre-existing, non-communicable, and/or chronic conditions (OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.25-0.78), and felt themselves at the highest risk of COVID-19 (OR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.15-0.62), had significantly lower odds of increased tobacco use. Policy makers and practitioners need to focus on strengthening awareness and raising initiatives to avoid tobacco use during such a crisis period.

Keywords: Bangladesh; COVID-19; smokeless tobacco; smoking; tobacco use.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

References

    1. WHO Tobacco. [(accessed on 9 December 2020)]; Available online: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco.
    1. WHO Management of Substance Abuse: Tobacco. [(accessed on 9 December 2020)]; Available online: https://www.who.int/substance_abuse/facts/tobacco/en/
    1. Anderson C.L., Becher H., Winkler V. Tobacco control progress in low and middle income countries in comparison to high income countries. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2016;13:1039. doi: 10.3390/ijerph13101039. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Islam F.M.A., Walton A. Tobacco Smoking and Use of Smokeless Tobacco and Their Association with Psychological Distress and Other Factors in a Rural District in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study. J. Environ. Public Health. 2019;2019:1424592. doi: 10.1155/2019/1424592. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Burki T.K. Tobacco consumption in Bangladesh. Lancet Oncol. 2019;20:478. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30144-5. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources