Determinants of cigarette smoking and smoking intensity among adult males in Ghana

Abstract

BackgroundIn spite of the adverse health and financial implications of smoking, it still remains one of the leading causes of preventable diseases and deaths in the world. Key to discouraging the habit of smoking is knowledge of the drivers of smoking. In Ghana, though smoking behaviours are relatively more associated with adult males than youth and adolescents, studies on smoking behaviours of adult males are scant. This study, therefore, investigates the determinants of cigarette smoking and smoking intensity among adult males in Ghana.MethodsData were obtained from the most recent Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) conducted in 2014. Based on the 2014 GDHS, a negative binomial-logit hurdle model was estimated to explore the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics associated with cigarette consumption and smoking intensity among adult males in Ghana. To ensure robustness, separate estimations were performed for the respective logit and negative binomial models used in the two-part model.ResultsWe find that men in lower socioeconomic category (poor and low education) have a higher likelihood to smoke. Also, age proved significant in explaining smoking behaviors in Ghana. Moreover, religion and region of residence are reported to affect cigarette consumption decision. Furthermore, we find that among the men who smoke, those between the ages of 44 and 60 years and have attained approximately primary education have a higher likelihood to smoke greater quantities of cigarette daily. Also, the smokers who reside in the Upper East and Upper West regions are reported to smoke more intensely than their counterparts in the Greater Accra region.ConclusionSince smoking remains one of the major causes of diseases and deaths the world over, the current study provides recent empirical evidence based on a nationally representative sample for public health policies geared towards smoking reduction and ultimately cessation. This study suggests that public policies that promote higher educational attainment and improved incomes (wealth) are crucial in smoking reduction and cessation in Ghana.

Prevalence and Drivers of Tobacco use Among Young Men in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from 21 Nationally Representative Surveys

“…For instance, young men with poorer, middle, richer and richest wealth status had a lesser likelihood of using tobacco compared to those from the poorest wealth status. This finding is consistent with the studies of Shrestha et al [6], Nketiah -Ampoosah, Afful -Mensah and Ampaw [10] and Abdulrahim and Jawad [23]. Our study found a significant association between the type of occupation and tobacco use.…”

“…Young men with a primary, secondary and higher level of education had lesser odds of consuming tobacco as compared with those with no education. This finding is in line with earlier studies [6,10,14,22]. The possible explanation would be the educated young men may be exposed to information about the dangerous health risks associated with the consumption of tobacco and are more likely to stay away from consuming tobacco in any form.…”

“…This has led to researchers focusing on the adverse health outcomes and the consequences of tobacco use [7][8][9]. Much attention has been focused on cigarette smoking [2,[10][11][12][13][14] and creating a dearth of knowledge on the other forms of tobacco use. Also, the focus has been on adult men and women and their socio-economic inequalities in tobacco use [15][16][17].…”

Putative Risk Factors of Prostate Cancer in Unscreened Ghanaian Men

“…This nding contradicts earlier comprehensive review of smoking prevalence in Ghana, which reported high incidence in older men [42]. We agree with the reasoning put forth by Nketiah and colleagues [43] that factors such as religion, level of income, educational status, and public health could account for the low prevalence in the study population. Furthermore, we showed no association of smoking and prostate cancer (OR, 1.007; Cl 95%).…”

Current and former smokers among adolescents aged 12–17 years in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Parental education is, as such, very important. Women tend to smoke less because of personality traits [82] as well as, especially in countries like Iran, for cultural reasons and stigma. Unfortunately, adolescent boys, due to the high influence of their friends, see smoking as a sign of adulthood, and their lack of awareness and education has made them more likely to smoke than adolescent girls [74,80,81].…”