Tobacco use and associated factors among men and women in Kenya: results from the national non-communicable diseases risk factor survey, 2015

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of daily tobacco use among Kenyan adults by gender. We analysed data from the Kenya cross-sectional non-communicable diseases risk factor survey, 2015, which sampled 4496 adults 18-69 years, (females = 60.0%; median age for men 39 and for women 38 years, Inter Quartile Range 22 and 24 years, respectively). Results indicate 16.6% of men and 0.4% of women were daily smoking tobacco products, 2.1% of men and 2.8% of women used smokeless tobacco daily, and 18.4% of men and 3.1% of women were daily tobacco product users. Among men who smoked tobacco products daily, 88.7% used manufactured cigarettes and 28.2% used hand-rolled cigarettes. Among women who used smokeless tobacco products daily, 39.1% used snuff by mouth, 35.6% snuff by nose and 29.3% were chewing tobacco. In adjusted Poisson regression analyses among both men and women, lower education and Khat use was associated with daily tobacco use. In addition, among men, older age and urban residence were positively and overweight and obesity were negatively associated with daily tobacco use. Among women, having hypertension was associated with daily tobacco use. High daily tobacco use was found, in particular among men, in Kenya. Several gender specific sociodemographic and health risk factors were identified, which can help in designing strategies for tobacco control interventions in Kenya.

Keywords: Daily tobacco use, smoking, smokeless tobacco use, sociodemographic status, health variables, Kenya