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 antiretroviral treatment. Regular smokers were defined as current smokers who smoked >1 cigarette per day for >or=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 Côte 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.