At least six out of 10 persons who try smoking become daily smokers, for some period of time, a new study published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research found.
The research compiled data of 2,15,000 respondents who participated in eight surveys in US, UK, New Zealand and Australia.
“This is the first time that the remarkable hold that cigarettes can establish after a single experience has been documented from such a large set of data,” Peter Hajek from Queen Mary University of London, the lead author of the study said in a release.
The research highlights the need for preventing first time experimentation by youngsters. In India, 28.6% of the adult population uses some form of tobacco, shows Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2017. The GATS also found that 61.9% of cigarette smokers, 53.8 % of bidi smokers and 46.2% of smokeless tobacco users contemplated quitting because of the conspicuous graphic warnings.For the UK study, scientists of the study mined through the Global Health Data Exchange for surveys that included questions about ever trying a cigarette and ever smoking daily.
Of those surveyed about 60 % had tried a cigarette, and of these almost 60% said they had gone on to become daily smokers. Given that the 8 surveys used different methodologies, the researchers estimated the results have a margin of error lying somewhere between 60.9 and 76.9 %.