Psychosocial Factors Associated With Reverse Smoking – A Qualitative Research

Abstract

Reverse smoking refers to a smoker putting a lit end of the cigarette into his mouth and inhaling the smoke from lit end. Reverse smoking is popular in some parts of India, Srilanka, Venezuela, Panama and Sardinia. Reverse smoking is a risk factor for cancer of the hard palate. Prevention is better than cure, thus its very crucial to identify the factors associated with initiating and abiding by this habit, so that we can try to prevent people from taking up this habit. The current study is conducted with an aim to assess the psychological and social factors associated with reverse smoking. Materials & methods: the current study is an qualitative research conducted to know the psychological and social factors related to reverse smoking. The information is collected by means of structured interview. The study includes reverse smokers form srikakulam district the sample size is determined by data saturation. Individuals who are psychologically disoriented and who do not give informed consent are excluded. Results: majority of individuals in the current study has started reverse smoking due to the influence of others and majority of them belong to lower SES and are illiterates which suggest that individuals behavior is largely determined by the condition in which they live. Nearly 55% of the reverse smokers were influenced by their family and friends. Conclusions: complex array of factors influence and determine human behavior major emphasis on health promotion is therefore to make the healthy choices, and highlight that an agenda to improve health outcomes among the poor in India must include effective interventions to control tobacco use.