The prevalence of tobacco use among industrial workers

Introduction. The relevance of the study is determined by the continuous high prevalence of smoking tobacco products among the working population.

The aim is to assess the prevalence of smoking tobacco use among the working population of the Saratov region.

Materials and methods. In frames of the cross-sectional study, four hundred fifty three employees of various industrial enterprises of the Saratov region who underwent periodic medical examination at the occupational diseases clinic of the Saratov Hygiene Center of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “MRC (Medical Research Center) of Medical and Preventive Technologies for Public Health Risk Management”, were surveyed, including 280 men (63.8%) and 173 women (38.2%). The average age was 50.5 years. The results of the study were statistically processed using the software Statistica 10. The nonparametric Mann–Whitney method was used to compare two independent samples.

Results. The prevalence of tobacco smoking was 38.6% among men and 13.3% among women. More than half of those who used tobacco products belonged to the group of “trained” smokers — 66.7% of men and 56.5% of women, the majority of employees (79.4%) smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day. The main reason for giving up smoking was the state of health (65.2%). 8.7% and 9.9% of non-smoking respondents were found to be exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke at home and at work respectively. The frequency of use of other types of smoking products has been studied.

Limitations. The study has regional (Saratov region) and professional (employees of industrial enterprises) limitations.

Conclusion. Despite the complex of anti-smoking measures people of working age remain highly committed to the use of tobacco smoking products. Smoking of tobacco products and electronic means of heating tobacco is important to take into account when developing and carrying out preventive measures, including during periodic medical examinations of the able-bodied population.

Compliance with ethical standards. Research was conducted in compliance with the requirements of confidentiality of personal data, ethical standards and principles for conducting medical research involving humans, set out in the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association of the latest (2008) revision. Written consent was obtained from the respondents to participate in the study.

Contribution:
Raikova S.V. — the concept and design of the study, collection and processing of material, writing a text;
Raykin S.S. — collection and processing of material, statistical processing;
Komleva N.E. — editing;
Gadzhieva M.K. — processing of material, writing a text.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: April 11, 2022 / Accepted: June 8, 2022 / Published: June 26, 2022