Tobacco use and willingness to quit among inhabitants of Egor Local Government area of Edo State

Abstract

Background: Tobacco use is a major global public health challenge and smoking cessation is the single most important prevention of premature death globally. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of tobacco use by residents in Egor LGA and their willingness to quit smoking.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study where data was collected using a semi structured interviewer administered questionnaire and analyzed with IBM SPSS version 25.0. A Willingness to quit scoring tool was designed by the researchers aimed at categorizing selfmotivation towards smoking cessation.
Results A total of 315 respondents participated in this study out of whom 63 (20%) used tobacco. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean age tobacco users (26.8 ± 8.5 years) and mean age (22.7 ±5.59 years) of Non tobacco users (t = 4.6; df = 313; p = 0.000). Seventeen (27%) of the respondents who used tobacco expressed a willingness to quit. The proforma designed to score willingness to quit tobacco smoking revealed that there was a high level of reluctance 8 (47.1%) to quit while 3 (17.6%) were categorized as Strongly willing to quit.

Conclusion:
Health education programs targeted at adolescents and young people should be organized at community level where respondents that are willing to quit tobacco smoking can be identified. The Willingness to quit Tobacco Scoring Model (WTSM) proposed in this study can be an easy and effective tool utilized for monitoring and encouragement of clients in tobacco cessation programs.