Tobacco use is common among HIV-positive patients compared to HIV-negative individuals, according to the new research from the University of York, published in The Lancet Global Health. The study aims to raise awareness of tobacco use; particularly for HIV patients.
A recent research revealed that young people on HIV drugs have improved their life expectancy, near to normal. Medical breakthroughs in HIV indicate that patients could only lose five years of life because of the infection, while those who are smoking may lose 12 years of life. That said, the study points out the danger of tobacco use as it is more than twice as likely to cause death among HIV patients as the infection itself.
The study, backed by South African Medical Research Council, revealed that in the African region, HIV-positive women are 36 percent, and 41 percent HIV-positive for men, both are more likely to be engaged in tobacco use such as chewing, and snuff, compared to their HIV-negative counterpart.
Researchers were able to observe a difference between men and women in terms of tobacco use, in which women have a high tendency of using smokeless tobacco - chew or snuff - than smoking alone.
Dr. Noreen Mdege, from York's Department of Health Sciences, said that the proportion of HIV-positive patients using tobacco is higher compared to HIV-negative individuals in high-income settings with the same age and sex. The findings also confirmed that it is also same in low and middle-income. However, researchers were uncertain as to why tobacco use is significantly higher among HIV patients, so further study is still needed.
But, Dr. Mdege explains that there are some factors to consider in their ongoing research, like alcohol use and drugs, issues on mental health, coping with the symptoms of HIV, and side-effects from drugs. HIV misconception is also a possible factor why tobacco use is linked to the infection. The study also indicates that the observed difference of tobacco use among men and women is due to cultural and social norms.
The next stage of the study, according to Dr. Mdege, is to focus on the differences of tobacco use among HIV patients and the general population, and factors that trigger the use of tobacco. Through this, researchers could possibly produce tailored interventions to tackle the root causes of tobacco use.