Predictors of betel quid chewing behavior and cessation patterns in Taiwan aborigines

Abstract

Background: Betel quid, chewed by about 600 million people worldwide, is one of the most widely used addictive substances. Cessation factors in betel quid chewers are unknown. The present study explores prevalence and the quit rate of betel quid chewing in Taiwan aborigines. Our goal was to delineate potential predictors of chewing cessation.

Patterns of Betel Quid, Cigarette, and Alcohol Use, and Their Correlates With Betel Quid Cessation in a Male Inmate Population

“…BQ chewing is often coupled with other addictive behaviors, such as cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking in Taiwan. Approximately 40%-80% of BQ chewers were also smokers or drinkers (Lai et al, 2006;Lin et al, 2006;Wu et al, 1999Wu et al, , 2007Yap et al, 2008). However, mixed evidence has been reported regarding the influence of coexisting substance use on BQ cessation.…”

“…Male chewers who preferred lao-hwa quid or its alternatives were more likely to quit, but the likelihood of quitting was not associated with occupations, smoking, drinking, or daily amount of BQ use. Lin et al (2006) showed that chewers who were older than 45 years with no drinking habit were more likely to quit. In this study, we aim to determine patterns of betel-quid chewing, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking, and their correlates with BQ cessation among a group of male inmates who have a history of BQ chewing.…”

“…The cessation rate (defined as the proportion of former BQ chewers to all chewers, former, and current chewers combined.) is reported to be 27.5% in males and 12.7% in females in a predominantly nonaboriginal population (Yap, Ho, Kuo, Kuo, & Yang, 2008), and 7.6% in an aboriginal population (Lin et al, 2006). BQ chewing is often coupled with other addictive behaviors, such as cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking in Taiwan.…”

“…Among nonaborigines BQ is consumed almost exclusively by men (Liou & Chou, 2000), whereas among aborigines it is used by both men and women with a relatively small gender difference (53.2% in males vs. 37.9% in females) (Lin et al, 2006).…”

Betel‐quid dependence domains and syndrome associated with betel‐quid ingredients among chewers: anAsian multi‐country evidence

“…Carcinomas of the upper aerodigestive tract are the primary neoplasms associated with their consumption [1,2,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Large-scale epidemiological studies have reported that prolonged TF-BQ use is related to obesity, metabolic syndrome and adverse pregnancy outcomes [15][16][17]. In Cambodia, a nationwide investigation has shown an association between the intensity of TA-BQ use and HIV/AIDS, dengue fever and typhoid [18].…”