Contextual correlates of intensity of smoking in northeast India

This study assessed the significance of socio-demographic and contextual factors on the number of daily cigarette and bidi smoking in northeast India.

This study is based on the data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey-India (2009-2010). Community asset is measured as the totality of all households' durables and community affinity to smoking as the proportion of households which allowed smoking in the house.

High daily cigarette and bidi smokers constitute 20 and 30 % of the respective smokers and they smoke 35.8 cigarettes and 14.6 bidis daily, respectively, on the average. The higher is the community affinity to smoking, the higher is the intensity of smoking among the high daily cigarette smokers. Advancing age and educational attainment have significant deterrent effect on the intensity of cigarette and bidi smoking.

Contextual factors are found to be important for regional tobacco control programmes. The need for reaching out to communities and the importance of promotion of public-private partnership under the provision of corporate social responsibility for effectiveness of tobacco control programme is recommended.