Cigarette smoking is major health problem in Saudi Arabia and a risk factor for several diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease. We aimed to determine the Sociodemographic characteristic and behaviors among smokers attending smoking cessation clinics in Jeddah.
Methodology
We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study by taking all the visitors to all the 43 clinics in Jeddah in 2018 with a total of 5,869 records. Data were obtained from the National Tobacco Control Program of the Ministry of Health.
Results
The mean age of visitors was 32 ± 12 years (32 ± 12 years among males and 33 ± 12 years among females) with 95% of them were males. Above half of them were university educated (50%), employed (57%), and earning less than 3,000 SAR per month (56%). The majority (85%) of the visitors started smoking at below 20 years of age with a mean age of 18 ± 5 years (18 years for males and 20 years for females). The majority smoked less than a pack per day (85%), for less than 15 years (83%), and had no other smokers at home (77%) and had no previous quit attempts (81%). Around 48% of the visitors attended to mobile clinics. The early initiation of smoking was significantly associated with younger age, male gender, single, below university education, unemployment, and lower-income (p-<0.01). Heavy smoking was significantly associated with including higher age, divorced/widower & married, uneducated, and primary education level, and lower-income (p-<0.01). Prolonged smoking was significantly associated with higher age, divorced/widower & married, uneducated, and primary education, being employed, and lower-income (p-<0.01).
Conclusion
The Ministry of Health should continue to support cessation clinics to reduce the initiation of smoking among younger generations and help older generations quit by increasing access with considerations to Sociodemographic factors.