Prevalence and factors influencing betel nut chewing among adults in west insein township, yangon, myanmar.

PREVALENCE AND FACTORS INFLUENCING BETEL NUT CHEWING AMONG ADULTS IN WEST INSEIN TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2016 Sep;47(5):1089-97 Authors: Myint SK, Narksawat K, Sillabutra J Abstract Betel nut chewing can cause precancerous oral lesions and is common in Myanmar. We conducted a cross sectional study aimed to estimate prevalence and factors influencing betel nut chewing among 420 subjects aged ≥18 years in West Insein Township, Yangon, Myanmar in order to inform preventive health programs. The mean age of the study subjects was 45(±15) years. The overall prevalence of current betel nut chewing among study subjects was 55.2%. The mean age starting betel nut chewing was 29(±13) years, and the mean duration of chewing was 15(±13) years. The reasons given by study subjects for chewing betel nut included the addictive effect to betel nut, to release tension, to get rid of boredom and to stop smoking. Sixty-two point three percent of current betel nut chewers also chewed tobacco and 24.2% also smoked cigarettes. Factors significantly associated with betel nut chewing were male gender, current alcohol consumer, having no education or finishing primary or secondary school, having a low score regarding their attitude about the health effects of betel nut chewing, and having high score on interpersonal factors by family and peer pressure. Our results show a need to better educate the public about ...
Source: Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health - Category: Tropical Medicine Tags: Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health Source Type: research