Background: Tobacco use is one of the single biggest causes of preventable deaths and is
increasingly affecting developing countries and men and women alike. Tobacco use is
historically more common in men but is becoming more common among women. In the
absence of population-based health information in many dev eloping countries and subSaharan
Africa in particular, public health planning and priority setting is in disarray.
Most of the prevalence studies on tobacco have concentrated on smoked tobacco and
men in particular. This cross-sectional study design looked at the prevalence, patterns
and determinants of tobacco use among women in Benin City, an urban area in Nigeria.
Methods: 491 face-to-face interviews were conducted in 45 enumeration areas
randomly sampled in Oredo LGA in Benin City, Nigeria. Twelve households were
randomly sampled in each EA and eligible woman over the age of 18 years was
identified in each household.
Results: The prevalence of tobacco use was 8.8% comprising of smoking (3.3%) and
smokeless (5.5%) initiation occur during the teenage years mostly. Smoking cigarettes
was more common among the younger, more educated women and Tabba (a mixture of
powdered dry tobacco leaf and sodium bicarbonate) used mostly by older less educated
women (RR = 3.10, CI = 1.01 - 9.48). The participants perceived friends using tobacco
as a reason for their starting to use tobacco. Determinants of tobacco use were
education, exposure to tobacco advertising and / or promotions which occurs almost
unrestricted despite some tobacco control legislations.
iv
Conclusions: The findings suggest that tobacco use is going on unhindered and unless
something is done to curtail the activities of the tobacco industry, a major public health
catastrophe is looming.