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Table 1 Sample characteristics and tobacco use behaviours, SAB 2018–2022

From: Smokeless and combustible tobacco use among 148,944 South Asian adults: a cross-sectional study of South Asia Biobank

Variables a

Men

 

Women

Bangladesh

India

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

 

Bangladesh

India

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

Number of participants

22,765

12,322

11,914

10,601

 

27,546

18,730

22,084

22,982

Age in years, mean (sd)

41.9 (16.1)

41.4 (16.1)

38.6 (15.9)

45.2 (17.0)

 

37.4 (13.6)

40.0 (15.0)

37.4 (14.5)

44.0 (16.1)

Education

         

 No formal schooling

23.0

6.7

34.1

0.8

 

25.3

20.2

49.1

1.3

 Primary school

17.3

12.4

4.8

7.9

 

13.8

12.2

4.0

8.2

 Secondary/high school

41.3

42.1

28.9

70.7

 

50.6

38.8

23.2

79.8

 College and above

18.5

38.7

32.3

20.6

 

10.3

29.0

23.7

20.2

Smoking status

         

 Never

42.9

75.0

87.8

72.8

 

99.1

98.3

99.5

99.7

 Former

17.2

6.4

0.7

12.0

 

0.5

0.7

0.0

0.1

 Current

39.9

18.6

11.5

15.2

 

0.4

1.0

0.4

0.2

Age started smoke, mean (sd) b

18.9 (6.4)

20.1 (6.3)

23.3 (7.8)

21.4 (6.2)

 

20.1 (10.8)

24.5 (10.8)

26.8 (11.6)

20.4 (7.1)

Years of smoking, mean (sd) b

22.0 (15.3)

17.6 (14.3)

19.5 (14.1)

21.0 (14.6)

 

26.2 (17.3)

17.5 (16.4)

22.4 (15.0)

21.7 (16.7)

% Smoking cessation b

29.0

22.7

4.5

42.1

 

58.4

36.3

4.3

42.8

Smoking intensity, mean (sd) c

8.0 (7.1)

4.7 (6.0)

8.6 (7.6)

3.3 (3.6)

 

4.3 (3.6)

3.5 (3.9)

5.8 (6.3)

3.2 (2.5)

% Quitting attempt last year c

55.6

48.0

14.8

50.5

 

55.9

48.5

14.8

58.7

SLT use

         

 Never

71.3

85.5

98.6

85.5

 

74.6

98.0

99.9

98.0

 Former

3.9

2.5

0.1

1.6

 

2.0

0.6

0.0

0.4

 Current

24.7

12.0

1.3

12.9

 

23.4

1.4

0.0

1.7

Age started SLT use, mean (sd) b

28.9 (14.2)

21.9 (9.1)

21.6 (7.2)

26.7 (11.1)

 

29.2 (12.7)

25.7 (11.2)

23.9 (12.5)

32.6 (13.4)

Years of SLT use, mean (sd) b

18.7 (14.6)

16.0 (11.5)

11.9 (9.5)

21.6 (16.9)

 

16.3 (14.7)

14.3 (13.2)

16.7 (11.9)

24.8 (16.7)

SLT type among current users c

         

 Betel

56.2

4.1

31.5

73.6

 

84.8

5.1

-- c

68.7

 Chew

32.5

17.2

35.6

2.3

 

10.0

19.5

-- c

1.7

 Snuff

0.3

74.0

29.5

16.2

 

0.2

68.0

-- c

23.5

 Multiple SLT products

11.0

4.7

3.4

8.0

 

5.0

7.3

-- c

6.1

SLT use intensity, mean (sd) c

6.6 (5.6)

4.2 (4.2)

2.0 (2.5)

4.4 (4.7)

 

6.0 (4.6)

3.2 (3.0)

3.4 (5.7)

3.2 (2.5)

  1. Abbreviations: SLT, smokeless tobacco
  2. aNumbers show percentages, unless indicated otherwise. All estimations, other than sample size, were weighted by post-stratification sample weights, calculated for each country based on age and sex distribution as estimated by the United Nations Population Prospects 2022 Revision
  3. bEstimated for ever smokeless tobacco users
  4. cEstimates for current users; smokeless tobacco product type was suppressed for female adults in Pakistan due to small numbers
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