A study of tobacco and alcohol consumption among the elderly population residing in field practice areas of a Tertiary Care Institute

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Tobacco and alcohol use are serious public health problems in many countries including India because of the associated health hazards. It is essential to bring down the health related risk behaviors among elderly population for promotion and prolongation of healthy life. Objective: To assess health related risk behaviors viz. smoking, alcohol and tobacco consumption among the geriatric population and making comparison of rural and urban elderly people. Material and method: A pretested, semi-structured questionnaire pertaining to sociodemographic information and three common risk behaviour practices i.e. smoking, smokeless tobacco use and alcohol consumption was used for data collection. Results: Overall, 9.6% rural and 6.8% urban elderly were current alcohol users. 19.6% rural and 12.8% urban elderly were current smokers while 20.4% rural and 14.0% urban elderly were current smokeless tobacco users. Proportions of males were significantly higher among tobacco user elderly participants in both rural and urban areas. Proportions of rural elderly were significantly higher among tobacco chewers. Conclusion: Overall prevalence of health risk behaviors was high among the study population. No significant difference found between rural and urban elderly people in relation to habit of smoking and alcohol consumption.