Table 2 The profile of current SLT chewing among study participants

Overall Prevalence

642 (44.9%)

42.3%-47.5%

309 (21.6%)

19.5%-23.8%

471 (32.9%)

30.5%-35.4%

Sex (n = 1431)

 Male

579 (90.2%)

87.6%-92.3%

246 (79.6%)

74.8%-83.7%

471 (100%)

99.2%-100%

 Female

63 (9.8%)

7.7%-12.4%

63 (20.4%)

16.3%-25.2%

0 0

Male

Female

Male

Female

Male

Female

Age Group (n = 1431)

 20–24 years

220(34.3%)

30.7%-38.0%

8 (1.2%)

0.6%-2.4%

82 (26.5%)

21.9%-31.7%

8 (2.6%)

1.3%-5.0%

195 (41.4%)

37.0%-45.9%

0

 15 to 19 years

359 (55.9%)

52.1%-59.7%

55(8.6%)

6.6%-11.0%

164 (53.1%)

47.5%-58.6%

55 (17.8%)

13.9%-22.5%

276 (58.6%)

54.1%-63.0%

0

Marital Status (n = 1003)

 Married

115 (17.9%)

15.1%-21.1%

2 (0.3%)

0.1%-1.1%

59 (19.1%)

15.1%-23.8%

2 (0.6%)

0.2%-2.3%

97 (20.6%)

17.2%-24.5%

0

 Unmarried

413 (64.3%)

60.5%-67.9%

30 (4.7%)

3.3%-6.6%

154 (49.8%)

44.3%-55.4%

30 (9.7%)

6.3%-13.5%

352 (74.7%)

70.6%-78.4%

0

Educational Status (n = 1431)

 School leavers

505 (78.7%)

75.3%-81.7%

32(5.0%)

3.6%-7.0%

212 (68.6%)

63.2%-73.5%

32 (10.4%)

7.4%-14.3%

426 (90.4%)

87.5%-92.8%

0

 Currently engage in education

74 (11.5%)

9.3%-14.2%

31 (4.8%)

3.4%-6.8%

34 (11.0%)

8.0%-15.0%

31 (10.0%)

7.2%-13.9%

45 (9.6%)

7.2%-12.5%

0

Employment status(n = 1003)

 Employed

331 (51.6%)

47.7%-55.4%

18(2.8%)

1.8%-4.4%

143 (46.3%)

40.8%-51.8%

18 (5.8%)

3.7%-9.0%

280 (59.4%)

55.0%-63.8%

0

 Unemployed

188 (29.3%)

25.9%-32.9%

14(2.2%)

1.3%-3.6%

70 (22.7%)

18.3%-27.6%

14 (4.5%)

2.7%-7.5%

160 (34.0%)

29.8%-38.4%

0

Ethnicity (n = 1431)

 Sinhalese

368 (57.3%)

55.3%-61.1%

37 (5.8%)

4.2%-7.8%

156 (50.5%)

44.9%-56.0%

37 (12.0%)

8.8%-16.1%

305 (64.8%)

60.3%-68.9%

0

 Tamils

51(7.9%)

6.1%-10.3%

13(2.0%)

1.2%-3.4%

27 (8.7%)

6.1%-12.4%

13 (4.2%)

2.5%-7.1%

37 (7.9%)

5.8%-10.6%

0

 Muslims

160 (24.9%)

21.7%-28.4%

13 (2.0%)

1.2%-3.4%

63 (20.4%)

16.3%-25.2%

13 (4.2%)

2.5%-7.1%

129 (27.4%)

23.6%-31.6%

0

Smoking Lifestyle (n = 1431)

 Ever smoker

371 (57.8%)

53.9%-61.6%

17 (2.6%)

1.7%-4.2%

160 (51.8%)

46.2%-51.3%

17 (2.0%)

1.3%-3.2%

306 (65%)

60.6%-69.1%

0

 Never smoker

208 (32.4%)

28.9%-36.1%

46 (7.2%)

5.4%-9.4%

86 (27.8%)

23.1%-33.1%

46 (14.9%)

11.3%-19.3%

165 (35.0%)

30.9%-39.4%

0