Mortality among reverse chutta smokers in south India

A 10 year follow up study was performed of tobacco usage and oral disease in a random sample of 10 169 persons in Srikakulam district between 1967 and 1976. Age adjusted mortality rates in those who indulged in reverse smoking of chuttas (coarse cheroots) were nearly twice those of non-users of tobacco. Oral cancer explained only a small fraction of the excess mortality but reliable information was not available for other causes of death.