Prevalence and factors associated with tobacco smoking in Cameroon: a nationwide cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the prevalence of and risk factors associated with tobacco smoking in Cameroon Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted with study participants both male and female aged between 15 and 49 years old. Data was extracted from the Cameroon’s Demographic and Health Survey (DHS)2018-2019. We included 18,713 men and women in our final analysis. The outcome variable was the tobacco smoking status. Descriptive analysis, prevalence and logistic regression methods were used to analyze data and identify the potential determinants of tobacco smoking. Results: The prevalence of current tobacco smoking was 3.2% in the Cameroon in 2018-2019 (9.0% and 0.4% for male and female participants respectively). People aged 35–49 years, with lower education, and manual workers were the most prevalent group of smoking in the (p<0.001). Male participants were 23 times more likely to smoke tobacco than women. The increase of age was strongly associated with the increase of likelihood of smoking and the strength of association increased with the increase of age (AOR= 2.10 in 18-25, AOR= 6.94 in 26–34 and AOR= 7.35 in 35–49; reference group 15–17; p<0.001). In wealth status, the poorest (AOR= 3.09, 95% CI: 1.85 to 5.18, p<0.01) and poorer (AOR= 2.07 95% CI: 1.35 to 3.17, p<0.01) had increased OR of reporting smoking compared to the richest households. Living in East (AOR= 4.42 95% CI: 3.15 to 6.21, p=<0.001), Littoral (AOR= 2.04 95% CI: 1.16 to 3.57, p=0.01), and Centre (AOR= 2.02 95% CI: 1.15 to 3.54, p=0.02) has a higher OR of smoking than living in the Northern region. Regarding the religion, Animist (AOR= 2.19 95% CI: 1.36 to 3.52, p=0.01) had higher odds to report smoking compared to Muslims. The type of place of residence, and access to information (reading newspaper, listening to Radio, watching TV) had no significant association with smoking. These finding change when distributed within male and female separately. Conclusion: Male participants, older people, living in lower wealth household or in East, Littoral or center region were the most vulnerable groups to tobacco smoking in Cameroon. Government should intensify awareness programs targeting group at risk on the harmful effects of smoking in addition to the introduction of a most effective cessation support services among tobacco smoking.