Alcohol and Tobacco Use among Men in Zambia and Zimbabwe

Background To date, there is no country-representative study on tobacco and alcohol use in Zambia and Zimbabwe despite the fact that these two countries rank among the top producers of tobacco worldwide. To fill this research gap, we conducted this study to measure the prevalence of tobacco and alcohol consumption among adolescent and adult men in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Special attention was given to the age differential in the prevalence of smoking and drinking. Methods Country-representative data on alcohol and tobacco use along with relevant sociodemographic parameters were collected from Demographic and Health Surveys. Sample population were 23,169 men (14,773 from Zambia and 8,396 from Zimbabwe) aged 15-54 years. Data were analysed using multivariate regression techniques. Results Prevalence of tobacco use was 19.9% (19.0-20.9) in Zambia and 18.4% (17.4-19.5) in Zimbabwe, and that of alcohol was 37.6% (36.4-38.9) in Zambia and 50.5 (48.9-52.1) in Zimbabwe. In both of the countries, the majority of the tobacco and alcohol users were aged between 24-39 years. Results of multivariate regression analysis showed a significant positive association between tobacco and alcohol use with age, place of residence, religious affiliation, marital status, education and wealth quintile. Conclusion Nearly one-fifth of all men in the age group of 15-54 years smoke tobacco in Zambia and Zimbabwe, with the prevalence being most pronounced among those aged between 25-39 years. The predominantly young age structure of alcohol and tobacco users warrant demographically tailored anti-tobacco and alcohol controlling programmes.