Reporte de la situación actual del tabaquismo en la población rural de Quingeo, Ecuador

Abstract

Introduction: Tobacco use has expanded worldwide and is a major modifiable risk factor for chronic noncommuni-cable diseases. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the epidemiological behavior of smoking and associated factors in the rural population of Quingeo, Ecuador.Materials and methods: A cross-sectional, analytical field study was carried out in which 530 individuals of both sexes over 18 years of age were selected from the rural population of Quingeo through a multi-stage ran-dom sampling. A complete medical history and physical examination were applied. Smoking was classified as: non-smokers; current smokers and former smokers. A lo-gistic regression model was constructed to estimate Odds Ratio (95% CI) for factors associated with being a current smoker.Results: 12.8% (n=68) were current smokers, 7.9% (n=42) former smokers and 79.3% (n=420) did not smoke. A statistically significant association was found between smoking status and labor status (χ2=18.472, p<0.001), socioeconomic status (χ2=16,138, p<0.003) and educational status (χ2=24,539, p<0.001), where em-ployees and with a secondary and higher education pre-sented the highest prevalence of current smokers, while the lower class presented the lowest prevalence of current smokers. The main risk factors for smoking were male (OR=10.33, 95% CI: 4.69-22.77, p<0.001), alcohol con-sumption (OR=4.51, 95%CI: 2.10-9.67, p<0.001), and high abdominal circumference (OR= 2.35, 95% CI: 1.05-5.23, p= 0.036).Conclusions: We report a low prevalence of current smok-ers in the rural population of Quingeo. Factors associated with being a smoker were male gender, work status, edu-cational level, socioeconomic status, alcohol consumption and abdominal obesity. Anti-smoking campaigns should be maintained by promoting a healthy lifestyle, with an emphasis on alcohol users and obese people.