Pattern and correlates of tobacco use among school personnel from a rural area in Kashmir, India

Background: Tobacco -free schools and non smoking school personnel set a positive environment for the younger genration. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the patterns and correlates of tobacco use among school personnel in a rural area in Kashmir. Methodology: This school-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2018 to November 2018 in 50 government high schools. The study population comprised all the school personnel (teaching as well as nonteaching) of the selected schools. An anonymous pretested self-administered questionnaire (Global School Personnel Survey) was used for the collection of data. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 to demonstrate frequencies, cross-tabulation obtained from Chi-square tests. Multivariate analysis was done to predict factors associated with tobacco control. A significance level of < 0.05 was considered for statistical analysis. Results: Majority of the school personnel (68.3%) were smoking cigarettes on a daily basis (P < 0.001). Current bidi and hookah use was significantly higher among females than males (5.5% vs. 3.9%, P < 0.001). About 93.8% of the school health personnel strongly perceived the need for an anti-tobacco training (P = 0.151). Multivariate regression analysis predicted a positive association between the position in the school, age, and knowledge concerning harmful effects of environmental tobacco smoke (P < 0.001). School personnel with primary responsibility of teaching about health predicted a higher need for specific anti-tobacco training (P < 0.001). The smokers less strongly perceived the need for nonclassroom anti-tobacco activities (P = 0.000). Conclusions: The present study reports a high level of tobacco consumption among the school personnel and paucity of tobacco control school policies. Moreover, smokers felt a lesser need for tobacco control training among school personnel. These findings underscore the importance of support for tobacco control regulations and training in educational units.