Perceived Change in Tobacco Use and Its Associated Factors among Older Adults Residing in Rohingya Refugee Camps during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh

Sabuj Kanti Mistry^{1

2

3

4}, Arm Mehrab Ali^{1

5}, Uday Narayan Yadav^{2

6}, Md Nazmul Huda^{7

8}, Saruna Ghimire⁹, Md Ashfikur Rahman¹⁰, Sompa Reza¹¹, Rumana Huque^{12

13}, Muhammad Aziz Rahman^{14

15

16}

Affiliations

¹ ARCED Foundation, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh.
² Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.
³ BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of Public Health, Daffodil International University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.
⁵ Global Research and Data Support, Innovations for Poverty Action, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
⁶ National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia.
⁷ School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2560, Australia.
⁸ The School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Independent University, Dhaka 1229, Bangladesh.
⁹ Department of Sociology and Gerontology and Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA.
¹⁰ Development Studies Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh.
¹¹ Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
¹² Department of Economics, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
¹³ ARK Foundation, Gulshan, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh.
¹⁴ School of Health, Federation University Australia, Berwick, VIC 3350, Australia.
¹⁵ Department of Non-Communicable Diseases, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences (BUHS), Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh.
¹⁶ Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60115, Indonesia.

PMID: 34886073
PMCID: PMC8657143
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182312349

Perceived Change in Tobacco Use and Its Associated Factors among Older Adults Residing in Rohingya Refugee Camps during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh

Sabuj Kanti Mistry et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021.

. 2021 Nov 24;18(23):12349.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph182312349.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ ARCED Foundation, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh.
² Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.
³ BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of Public Health, Daffodil International University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.
⁵ Global Research and Data Support, Innovations for Poverty Action, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
⁶ National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia.
⁷ School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2560, Australia.
⁸ The School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Independent University, Dhaka 1229, Bangladesh.
⁹ Department of Sociology and Gerontology and Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA.
¹⁰ Development Studies Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh.
¹¹ Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
¹² Department of Economics, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
¹³ ARK Foundation, Gulshan, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh.
¹⁴ School of Health, Federation University Australia, Berwick, VIC 3350, Australia.
¹⁵ Department of Non-Communicable Diseases, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences (BUHS), Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh.
¹⁶ Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60115, Indonesia.

PMID: 34886073
PMCID: PMC8657143
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182312349

Abstract

This study explored the perceived change in tobacco use during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors among older adults residing in Rohingya refugee camps, also referred to as Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals in Bangladesh. The study followed a cross-sectional design and was conducted in October 2020 among 416 older adults aged 60 years and above. A purposive sampling technique was applied to identify eligible participants, and face-to-face interviews were conducted using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire to collect the data. 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. Binary logistic regression models determined the factors associated with the perceived change in tobacco use. More than one in five participants (22.4%) were current tobacco users, of whom 40.8% reported a perceived increase in tobacco use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adjusted analysis revealed that participants who were concerned about COVID-19 had significantly (p < 0.05) lower odds of perceived increase in tobacco use (aOR = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.06-0.73), while older adults who were overwhelmed by COVID-19 (aOR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.06-1.18) and communicated less frequently with others during the pandemic than before (aOR = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.03-1.20) had marginally significantly (p < 0.1) lower odds of perceived increase in tobacco use during this pandemic. Relevant stakeholders, policymakers, and practitioners need to focus on strengthening awareness-raising initiatives as part of an emergency preparedness plan to control tobacco use during such a crisis period.

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

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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**Figure 1**
Sample selection and study participants.

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Perceived Change in Tobacco Use and Its Associated Factors among Older Adults Residing in Rohingya Refugee Camps during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh

Affiliations

Perceived Change in Tobacco Use and Its Associated Factors among Older Adults Residing in Rohingya Refugee Camps during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh

Authors

Affiliations

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Conflict of interest statement

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