Consumption of tobacco products and associated factors among outpatient visitors of two healthcare facilities in Northern Cyprus: a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Background: Tobacco use is one of the leading causes of preventable mortality and morbidity. Although Cyprus is considered a developed country, the tobacco prevalence and related issues have not been explored sufficiently in the general population of North Cyprus.

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the rate of tobacco product consumption and related factors among the visitors of a community health center and a university hospital in Northern Cyprus.

Methods: The study was designed as a cross-sectional study The data were collected using a questionnaire developed in compliance with WHO guidelines. The data were analyzed using IBM-SPSS18.0 with  < 0.05 evaluated as significant.

Results: Out of a total of 635 individuals approached, 615 provided responses. The participation rate was 96%. The frequency of male smokers was 47.2%, while the frequency of female smokers was 34.0%, with a total smoking rate of 40.7%, much higher than world averages. The survey identified friendship influence as the primary reason for starting tobacco use, accounting for 42%, followed by being stressed at 34.6%. Male gender, being single, having no children, Turkish nationality were predictors of smoking, while financial status was not. The participants indicated a high frequency regarding exposure to passive smoke (51.1%). More than half of the respondents thought tobacco control in Northern Cyprus is not satisfactory.

Conclusion: More research needs to be done to determine the exact overall prevalence of tobacco consumption in the population, which was found high in this study. Moreover, implementation of comprehensive tobacco control strategies is essential to control the prevalent tobacco dependence.