Tobacco Use And Its Determinants In Hiv-Infected Patients On Antiretroviral Therapy In West African Countries

BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoking is common in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients from industrialised countries. In West Africa, few data concerning tobacco consumption exist.METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of the International Epidemiological Database to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) network in West Africa was conducted. Health workers administered a questionnaire assessing tobacco and cannabis consumption among patients receiving anti-retroviral treatment. Regular smokers were defined as current smokers who smoked >1 cigarette per day for >= 1 year.RESULTS: Overall, 2920 patients were enrolled in three countries. The prevalence of ever smokers and regular smokers were respectively 46.2% (95%CI 42.8-49.5) and 15.6% (95%CI 13.2-18.0) in men and 3.7% (95%CI 2.9-4.5) and 0.6% (95%CI 0.3-0.9) In women. Regular smoking was associated with being from Cote d'Ivoire or Mali compared to Benin (OR 4.6, 95%CI 2.9-7.3 and 7.7, 95%CI 4.4-13.6), severely impaired immunological status at highly active antiretroviral treatment initiation (OR 1.5, 95%CI 1.1-2.2) and history of tuberculosis (TB; OR 1.8, 95%CI 1.1-3.0).CONCLUSION: There are marked differences In smoking prevalence among these West African countries. This survey approach also provides proof of the association between cigarette smoking and TB in HIV-Infected patients, a major public health issue in this part of the world.