Smoking cigarettes among urban women and men in Nepal

Smoking Cigarette can cause a wide variety of diseases and can lead to death. Smoking is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and other forms of cancer. The study aims to determine the burden and... [ view full abstract ]

Smoking Cigarette can cause a wide variety of diseases and can lead to death. Smoking is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, and other forms of cancer.

The study aims to determine the burden and socio-demographic determinants of smoking cigarette among urban women and men in Nepal. The study is the further analysis of the urban subsets of women’s and men’s individual datasets of Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2011, using SPSS 16 version on weighted cases. The study is based on 1,819 women and 717 men aged 15-49 years residing in urban areas of Nepal.

Smoking cigarette is highest among urban women and men aged 45-49 (15.5%, 57.1%), illiterate urban women and men (15%, 50%) and urban poorest women and men (13.3%, 57.1%). In terms of region, it is highest among urban women and men in mid-western region (6.7%, 30%), urban women in mountain (9.1%) and urban men in terai (26.3%).

Whereas it is lowest among urban women and men aged 20-24 (0.3%, 22.3%), highly educated urban women and men (0.3%, 19.2%) and urban richest women and men (2.3%, 22.3%). In terms of region, it is lowest among urban women in eastern region (3.5%), urban men in western region (22.3%), urban women in hill (4.5%) and urban men in mountain (16.7%). It is found to increase with increasing age and a showed negative association with education level and asset quintile.

In conclusion, urban men smoke cigarettes significantly higher than urban women. There is high rate of smoking cigarette among older, illiterate and poorest urban women and men. Smoking cigarettes is significantly associated with age, education and socio-economic status. The study recommends (i) use the dis-aggregated urban data for planning and (ii) develop urban policy and strategies to address growing smoking cigarettes burden in urban areas of Nepal.