Prevalence of risk factors of non-communicable diseases among adolescents in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Objective: This study aimed to establish the prevalence of risk factors (tobacco use, alcohol abuse, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet) of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among secondary school students in a developing country. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study using the self-administered WHO STEP-wise questionnaire for chronic disease risk factor surveillance on adolescents attending secondary schools in Kenya. The study was carried out in the period between May and July 2018. Setting: Ten secondary schools were randomly selected in Uasin Gishu County, using stratified proportional sampling. Subjects: A total of 1,281 students assented to participate in the study. The mean age of the participants was 16.6 (SD±1.509) with the majority being female (55%, n=704) Results: The prevalence of alcohol abuse was 30.8%(n=394) with males having statistically significant higher rates than females (p < 0.05) and 6.8% of the participants were smokers. Of those that reported smoking, 60.9% were between 15-17 years of age. Adequate intake of three (3) servings of vegetables per day was seen in 13.5% of the respondents and 54.4% (n=697) of the total sample were found to be physically inactive. Conclusion: The prevalence of NCD risk factors among secondary school students in Uasin Gishu County is significant. As a result, health education and targeted interventions should be implemented in order to promote a healthy lifestyle which is important in preventing NCDs in future.

Barriers to the provision of smoking cessation intervention/services: A mixed-methods study among health care workers in Zambezi region, Namibia

Background. Healthcare workers (HCWs) can play a significant role in tobacco prevention by delivering smoking cessation (SC) interventions to patients who smoke. Objective: To identify and explore the perceived barriers which prevent healthcare workers from delivering SC counselling to patients in Zambezi region, Namibia. Methods: A regional-based, concurrent mixed-methods study was conducted between March and October 2020 among HCWs of the 8 constituencies of Zambezi region, Namibia. In the study, 129 respondents, who had been residents of the selected constituencies for over 5 years and aged between 17 to 60 years, participated. Results: 129 respondents participated in the study. Majority of respondents were females (62.9% and 68.1%) compared to (37.1% and 31.9%) males. The mean age of respondents was 35.91 (SD=9.3) and 36.61 (SD=8.7) respectively and their ages ranged between 18 and 59 years. Key barriers were identified: (i) HCWs based barriers included lack of time to provide SC, inadequate training and insufficient knowledge on SC interventions; (ii) system-based barriers identified lack of SC guidelines and educational materials for patients, and specialists to refer patients; and (iii) patient/client-based barriers included lack of patient interest in SC information, patients not adhering to advise given on SC. Conclusions: This study showed that SC delivery in Zambezi region is inadequate. Barriers were identified regarding the delivery of SC intervention for the first time. Targeted SC interventions are required to combat these identified specific barriers. There is a crucial need to improve HCWs skills and knowledge in providing SC intervention.

Daily tobacco use and problem drinking among urban adults in South Africa: a longitudinal study

Introduction: there is a lack of longitudinal studies investigating daily tobacco use and problem drinking in Africa. The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of daily tobacco use and problem drinking and to determine the factors associated with daily tobacco use and problem drinking among urban dwellers in a longitudinal study in South Africa.Methods: electronic interview data were collected from 2213 adults (mean age 45.7 years, SD=15.1; range 20-97) at time 1 (baseline assessment) and Time 2 (12 months follow-up assessment) from one urban centre in South Africa.Results: daily tobacco use only, was at time 1 24.0% and at time 2 23.4%, a decrease of 0.5%. Problem drinking only was at time 1 19.6% and at time 2 21.1%, an increase of 1.5%. Concurrent daily tobacco use and problem drinking increased from time 1 9.5% to 10.3% at time 2, an increase of 0.8%. In longitudinal regression analyses, being male and being born in current city were significantly associated with all three substance use indicators (daily tobacco use; problem drinking; and concurrent daily tobacco use and problem drinking). In addition, older age, not currently married, lower education, underweight and higher levels of perceived stress were associated with daily tobacco use and younger age was associated with problem drinking.Conclusion: high prevalence of daily tobacco use and problem drinking were found among urban dwellers and several socio-demographic (being male, being born in the city, not married and lower education) and health variables (being underweight and perceived stress) were identified which can guide substance use intervention programmes for this population

Prevalence of tobacco use in selected Johannesburg suburbs

Background. Tobacco smoking is estimated to kill more than 44 000 South Africans every year. Studies have shown that since the introduction of tobacco control measures, national smoking prevalence has declined in South Africa (SA). Objective. To determine the prevalence of tobacco smoking over a 7-year period in five impoverished neighbourhoods in Johannesburg, SA.Methods. Data were collected through the annual administration of a prestructured questionnaire to one adult respondent in preselected dwellings from 2006 to 2012. Information was collected on socioeconomic status, smoking practices and health status.Results. Over the 7-year period of the analysis, smoking levels remained unchanged. The proportion of households with one or more smokers varied significantly across the five study neighbourhoods. Approximately 20% of households in Hillbrow and as many as 77% in Riverlea had a member who smoked.Conclusions. Despite a national downward trend in smoking levels, tobacco use remains high and persistent in certain vulnerable communities, requiring scaled-up action to reduce the risk of a range of tobacco-related diseases

Black generation Y students' attitudes towards the demarketing of tobacco and alcohol consumption

This article reports on a study undertaken to determine Black Generation Y students' attitudes towards the demarketing of tobacco and consequent attitudes towards the demarketing of alcohol consumption in South Africa. As governments around the world; including South Africa; seek to tackle growing health care costs; so unhealthy consumption behaviours are increasingly coming under the spotlight. Tobacco smoking and; more recently excessive alcohol consumption; are two of such consumption behaviours that have received particular attention in recent years; with different demarketing strategies being implemented in an effort to dissuade the consumption thereof. While the effectiveness of these demarketing strategies may be measured directly by looking at changes in demand levels; little is known concerning consumer attitudes towards these strategies; even though an essential prerequisite for achieving their beneficial effects may depend on consumers having a positive attitude towards these strategies. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 400 Black Generation Y students registered at two South African higher education institutions situated in the Gauteng province. The captured data were analysed using z-tests; Pearson's Product-Moment Correlation and regression analysis. The findings indicate that Black Generation Y students have a statistically significant positive attitude towards both the demarketing of tobacco and alcohol consumption; and their attitudes towards the demarketing of tobacco serve as an important predictor to their attitudes towards the more recently proposed demarketing of alcohol consumption in South Africa