IJCM_141A: Determinants of Awareness on Pictorial Health Warnings on Tobacco Products in the Eastern State of India

Abstract

Background: Pictorial health warnings (PHWs) are an effective strategy to deter or reduce tobacco use. Objective: This study was conducted to determine the level of awareness of PHWs on tobacco products and their correlates among adults attending the outpatient department (OPD) of a tertiary care facility in Eastern India Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 3 months among 307 patients aged 18 to 65. A pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was used for the collection of data, and inferential statistics were performed using JAMOVI version 2.3.21. Results: About 84% (95% CI, 78.9 - 87.2) of the participants were aware of PHW on tobacco products [82.4% (95% CI, 77.8 - 86.3)] for smoked forms, 51.8% (95% CI, 46.2 - 57.3) for smokeless forms. More than half of the participants felt that the current PHW was ineffective. Male [AOR, 3.13; 95% CI, 1.33 - 7.37], being educated [AOR, 3.37; 95% CI, 1.29 - 8.76], employment [AOR, 5.65; 95% CI, 1.21 - 26.30] and ever-tobacco use [AOR, 3.23; 95% CI, 1.43 - 7.2] were found to be independent correlates of PHW awareness for smoked tobacco products, whereas as being male [AOR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.02 - 3.95] and being young (18-30 years) [AOR, 2.51; 95% CI, 1.08 - 5.84] were found to be the independent predictors of PHW awareness for smokeless tobacco products (SLT). Conclusion: Four out of every five individuals were aware of pictorial health warnings (PHW) on tobacco products; however, it was much less for SLT compared to smoked tobacco products. Male, being educated, employment and ever-tobacco use were independent correlates of awareness for the smoked form of tobacco products, whereas being young (18-30 years) was an independent predictor of awareness for SLT.

Keywords

• tobacco-control
• pictorial health-warning
• smokeless tobacco- products