Assesment of Tobacco Addiction amongst the South Indian Student Community during the Pandemic- A Survey

Abstract

Background:  The Lockdown implemented due to COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed the lives of many people who have been forced to stay at home in confinement. Tobacco addiction typically develops during adolescents. Availability of tobacco products, and lifestyle of students was greatly affected during the lockdown.

Objective: To analyse the effect of lockdown on the mental health, social behaviour and their varied addiction levels before and during the COVID 19 lockdown.

Materials and Method: This questionnaire survey was circulated to college students in different academic courses via google forms. The questionnaire was responded by 67 participants. The data was statistically analysed.

Results: 77.6% of the participants admitted that there is a decrease in the smoking frequency during the COVID-19 quarantine. There was a significant reduction in the frequency of smoking (p= 0.001) from multiple times a day before the lockdown to 1 or 2 per day during the lockdown. 62.7% of the participants who saw a decline in their smoking frequency were happy about the change, but 7.5% of them were struggling with the change.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that the current scenario of restricted movement is a prime opportunity to help students in the process of quitting the habit.