Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2009, 6(1), 225-231; doi:10.3390/ijerph6010225
Article

Smokeless Tobacco Use and Religiousness

Frank Gillum 1,* email, Thomas O. Obisesan 1 email and Nicole C. Jarrett 2 email
1 Howard University College of Medicine, 1112 Nora Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20904, USA 2 W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute, 1012 Tenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 3 November 2008 / Accepted: 7 January 2009 / Published: 12 January 2009
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tobacco Smoking and Public Health)
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Abstract: Although smoking shows a strong negative association with religiousness, no studies have appeared of use of smokeless tobacco (ST) and religiousness. To assess an association of use of ST and religiousness, data from 9,374 men aged 17 years and over with complete data on self-reported frequency of attendance at religious services and use of smokeless tobacco were analyzed. Among men aged 17-29 years, 4.9% of frequent attenders (>=24 times/y) and 9.4% of others (<24 times/y) were current users of ST (p=0.002). After adjusting for multiple confounders by logistic regression, infrequent attenders were twice as likely as frequent attenders to be ST users: odds ratio 2.09, 95% confidence limits 1.12-3.92, p=0.02. This negative association suggests a protective effect of early-life religiousness on ST use, which might be taken into account in planning ST prevention efforts.
Keywords: Smokeless tobacco; religion; spirituality; smoking

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Gillum, F.; Obisesan, T.O.; Jarrett, N.C. Smokeless Tobacco Use and Religiousness. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2009, 6, 225-231.

AMA Style

Gillum F, Obisesan TO, Jarrett NC. Smokeless Tobacco Use and Religiousness. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2009; 6(1):225-231.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gillum, Frank; Obisesan, Thomas O.; Jarrett, Nicole C. 2009. "Smokeless Tobacco Use and Religiousness." Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 6, no. 1: 225-231.

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