Correlates of Tobacco Use: A Population-Based Study in Southern Iran

Around the globe, tobacco use is a major risk factor that is associated with diseases, especially noncontagious diseases. Iran has not been an exception and has witnessed an exponential growth in tobacco use. This rising trend motivated the present study to explore the correlates of tobacco use in the south of Iran in Hormozgan Province.

This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2017 on 4,872 residents of Hormozgan who were selected through multi-stratified cluster sampling. The data were collected by researcher-made questionnaires which were analyzed in SPSS 19. A logistic regression analysis was run to find the foremost correlates of tobacco use.

The findings indicated that 1,085 (22.3%) of the sample used tobacco. Based on the obtained data, 25.1% and 20.3% of participants were males and females, respectively. The major correlates of tobacco use were found to be masculinity, higher age (P < 0.001), citizenship (P < 0.001), and low education level (P < 0.001). The unemployed or those with simple jobs showed a higher tendency to use tobacco compared to the more professional (P < 0.001). Finally, single participants demonstrated a higher rate of using tobacco in comparison with married ones (P < 0.001).

Significant differences were found between rural and urban residents, those with low and high education levels, men and women, the unemployed and employed participants, as well as the single and married ones. Accordingly, considering effective factors accounting for these divergences and designing effective interventions can help moderate the effect of these factors in controlling tobacco use in the future in Hormozgan.