Nimhans study sheds light on oral tobacco use among Bengaluru women

A study on substance use among women in Bengaluru conducted by Nimhans found that they commonly consume oral tobacco products.

Most users were in the moderate risk category, but were unwilling to stop using the substance and did not consider their use as risky.

The study was published in Springer Nature in September 2021.

The study surveyed 2,044 women from both Bengaluru rural and urban. Nearly half of them were employed, including in formal work and as daily wage labourers.

A majority of the group, who had varying levels of education, were married.

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The survey showed nearly one-third (32.7%) of the women used addictive substances. Overall, the proportion of users in the rural population was higher than in the urban population (39.5% vs 29.3%).

Among all identified users, 82.6% used oral tobacco products (kaddipudi, tambaku, etc), and 17.4% consumed alcohol. Individuals who used both tobacco and alcohol were significantly older, illiterate, and married, the study found.

Most users fell in the “moderate risk use” category (around 92% for tobacco and 67.5% for alcohol) and would, therefore, require brief intervention. However, these users did not think their behavior as risky.

Despite knowing that oral tobacco use can cause harm such as cancer, they believed it would not affect them personally. Some users also had misconceptions, such as the belief that preparing tobacco by washing and drying would make it safe or that it had postnatal benefits.

The majority of substance users turned to tobacco or alcohol to alleviate stress and tension (90% for oral tobacco users and 70% for alcohol
users).

Many said substance use helped them forget their family problems and poverty. They also cited inability to control the habit, relief from aches and hunger, and a way to pass time as other reasons. Women doing scavenging work said tobacco helped them deal with the stench.

The researchers created a video in Kannada based on the survey results, which provided strategies for reducing substance use and depicted the negative health impacts. It also addressed common misconceptions about substance use.

Sunitha T Sreenivasan, the study’s lead author, said the video was shown to 104 women and a review three months later indicated that the substance use had decreased among them, though it had not completely stopped.