Tobacco use among blue-collar workers in Nigeria: a survey of construction artisans in Ekiti State

Abstract

Introduction: the prevalence of tobacco use among blue-collar workers such as construction artisans is disproportionately higher than in the general population, yet very limited studies have been conducted about such workers in Nigeria, the most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aims to assess the prevalence and the associated risk factors of tobacco use among construction artisans in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Methods: between November 2018 and January 2019, an adapted semi-structured questionnaire from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey was administered to collect data from 232 construction artisans. A multi-stage stratified sampling technique was employed to select participants, including carpenters, and bricklayers, journeymen, and their apprentices who were working in Ekiti State. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and logistic regression were conducted to delineate factors associated with tobacco use in this population.

Results: all respondents were males. The prevalence of people who have ever smoked was 19.3%. Multivariate analysis showed that artisans who were within the age range of 31-40 years were four times more likely to use tobacco (aOR: 3.41, 95% CI: 1.48-7.88; p= 0.003) compared with people younger than 20 years. Additionally, being in school (aOR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.03-3.93; p= 0.039) and being divorced/separated (aOR: 4.24, 95% CI: 1.31-13.76; p= 0.01) were associated with tobacco use, compared with the respective populations.

Conclusion: majority of the respondents said there was no smoking restriction at the worksite and this may be an impetus to continue smoking. Therefore, smoke-free worksite regulations would be needed to curtail the smoking tendencies of these workers.