Tobacco and alcohol use in Cuban women

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Tobacco and alcohol are currently the most widely consumed legal psychoactive substances in the world. They represent a heavy burden for health and society in almost all populations. Increasing consumption of both substances is a trend observed in women.OBJECTIVE Describe the profi le of women aged ≥15 years residing in urban areas of Cuba with respect to tobacco and alcohol consumption. METHOD Basic information on tobacco and alcohol consumption byCubans aged ≥15 years in urban areas was obtained from the Second National Survey on Risk Factors and Chronic Diseases (2001), a national descriptive cross-sectional study, the objective of which was to determine the frequency and epidemiological characteristics of the urban population's main chronic disease risk factors. Sampling design was complex stratifi ed multi-stage cluster. Of a sample of 23,743 individuals, 22,851 were surveyed, representative of 6.8 million Cubans. A questionnaire and structured interview were used. Variables were tobacco and alcohol use, as well as sociodemographic factors: sex, age, educational level, skin color, marital status, type of full-time employment and perceived economic situation. Prevalence, with 95% confi dence intervals, and male:female prevalence ratios were estimated. RESULTSWomen who smoked were predominantly aged 40-59 years; had completed less than university education; of black skin color; divorced; laborers, service workers or managers, and with a perceived economic situation as very poor. Women who consumed alcohol were predominantly aged 15-59 years, had at least middle school education, of mestizo or black skin color, of marital status other than widowed; there was no typical profi le for occupation or perceived economic situation. Women who were both smokers and alcohol consumers were predominantly 20-59 years, of black or mestizo skin color, of marital status other than widowed; with no typical profi le for educational level, occupation or perceived economic situation. CONCLUSIONSThe fi rst nationwide socioeconomic profi le of Cuban women using tobacco, alcohol or both constitutes a baseline for comparison to results of a new national study now under way, permitting evaluation of trends over time and effectiveness of prevention and control efforts.

Alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking pattern among brothelbased female sex workers in two local government areas in Lagos state, Nigeria

“…34 This is probably because the Cuban study was carried out in the general population as compared with this study carried out among sex workers. As with studies done in other populations, [35][36][37] Smoking was associated with alcohol consumption in this study. Smokers also drank significantly more units of alcohol per week than non-smokers.…”

Social determinants of breast cancer in the Caribbean: a systematic review

“…Proportions and CI obesity: Hispanic white (43.5%, 26.5–61.4), Hispanic black (35.6%, 23.0–48.2), nonhispanic black immigrant (44.3%, 37.9–50.7), nonhispanic black USVI-born (38.8%, 29.9–47.7).van Leeuwaarde, 2011 [70]Registry-based/(all)PopulationSuriname/Ethnicity I /Proportions and incidence rates (per 100,000 per year) of breast cancer: Creole (37.2%, 35.7), Maroons (1.9%, 2.2), Hindu (29.4%, 18.2), Javanese (17.9%, 20.8), Chinese (1.9%, not given), mixed (7.4%, 10.1), Dutch (1.4%, not given), other (2.9%, not given). Note these proportions also reflect the ethnography of the general Suriname population.Varona, 2011 [45] (a)Cross-sectional22,85115+PopulationCubaIncome – perception of economic situationAge Alc //Proportions and CI of females consuming alcohol in past 30 days across age group: 15–19 (11.4%, 8.9–13.9), 20–39 (14.6%, 13.2–15.9), 40–59 (9.3%, 8.0–10.5), >59 (2.7%, 1.8–3.6).Education Alc Proportions and CI of females consuming alcohol in past 30 days: primary school (4.8%, 3.8–5.7), middle school (10.7%, 9.4–12.1), high school (13.9%, 12.4–15.4), university (13.2%, 10.8–15.7).Ethnicity Alc Proportions and CI of females consuming alcohol in past 30 days: white (8.2%, 7.3–9.0), mestizo (14.7%, 12.9–16.5), black (14.9%, 12.3–17.6).Income Alc Proportions and CI of females consuming alcohol in past 30 days: excellent (8.4%, 2.3–14.6), good (11.8%, 10.0–13.6), fair (10.2%, 9.2–11.1), poor (9.2%, 7.4–10.9), very poor (10.9%, 7.6–14.1).Marital status Alc Proportions and CI of females consuming alcohol in past 30 days: unmarried (14.1%, 12.3–16.0), married or cohabiting (10.0%, 9.0–10.9), divorced or separated (12.0%, 9.9–14.0), widowed (2.5%, 1.4–3.7).Occupation Alc Proportions and CI of females consuming alcohol in past 30 days: manager (18.8%, 13.8–23.7), administrator (14.7%, 10.5–18.8), upper-level technician (13.1%, 10.1–16.1), middle-level technician (12.6%, 10.0–16.1), labourer (14.0%, 10.5–17.2), service worker (16.0%, 13.2–18.8).• (a) - Articles are components of larger studies: (Block, [40]) - Grenada Heart Project [100] ; ((Blum, [41]), (Ohene, [44])) - Caribbean Youth Health Survey [101]; (Brathwaite, [47]) - 2001 Bahamas Living Conditions Survey [102] ; ((Nam, [55]), (Kim, [42])) – [Health, Wellbeing and Aging] [103]; (Dubois, [49]) - Jamaica Youth Risk and Resiliency Behaviour Survey of 2007 [104] ; (Ferguson, [50]) - Jamaica Birth Cohort [105] ; (Laborde, [53]) - Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System […”

“…• (a) - Articles are components of larger studies: (Block, [40]) - Grenada Heart Project [100] ; ((Blum, [41]), (Ohene, [44])) - Caribbean Youth Health Survey [101]; (Brathwaite, [47]) - 2001 Bahamas Living Conditions Survey [102] ; ((Nam, [55]), (Kim, [42])) – [Health, Wellbeing and Aging] [103]; (Dubois, [49]) - Jamaica Youth Risk and Resiliency Behaviour Survey of 2007 [104] ; (Ferguson, [50]) - Jamaica Birth Cohort [105] ; (Laborde, [53]) - Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System [106] ; (Mendez, [54]) - International Collaborative Study on Hypertension in Blacks [107] ; (Nemesure, [67]) - The Barbados National Cancer Study [67]; (Pérez-Ríos, [61]) - Puerto Rico Reproductive Health Survey [108] ; (Varona, [45]) – 2011 National Survey on Risk Factors and Chronic Diseases [109]• Social determinants listed under “Risk Factors” are designated as “Alc” for alcohol; “Bf” for limited breastfeeding; “O” for overweight/obesity; and “PI” for physical inactivity• Social determinants listed under “Frequency” are designated as “I” for incidence and “C” for numbers of cases• All social determinants listed under “Outcome” are examined by mortality…”

“…There were 14 inequality relationships for alcohol, reported across 8 social determinants in 6 articles: age ( n  = 5), education ( n  = 2), ethnicity ( n  = 1), income ( n  = 1), marital status ( n  = 2), occupation ( n  = 1), religion ( n  = 1), residence ( n  = 1) [40–45]. …”

“…All adolescent studies found that older adolescents consumed more alcohol than younger adolescents [43, 44], with less conclusive findings among adults [40, 42, 45]. Persons with higher education tended to drink more than those with less education in Barbados and Cuba [42, 45].…”