Introductio

n to
Psychology
Section: A
Research on:

Smoking
and its
effect By;
Syed Owais Ali
(SP07-BB-0135)
Nabeel Hussain
(SP07-BB-0124)
Raheel Khan
(Sp07-BB-0131)
Something about Smoking;

Discovery of Tobacco
Tobacco was discovered by the Spanish sailors on the
American shores at about 1500 CE (900 AH). Since its
discovery, the epidemic of smoking has continued to spread
all over the world. In our times, one seldom finds a house not
afflicted by it. As early as the Seventeenth Century, the
European countries realized the dangers of smoking and
fought against it Laws were ordained in England, Russia,
Denmark, Sweden, Austria, and other countries, prohibiting
smoking and punishing violators. Nowadays, the Western
countries continue their attempts to protect their peoples
from the harms of smoking. They employ media means,
ordain laws and regulations, and apply other methods to
discourage people from smoking. Because of that, the rate of
smokers has declined to a certain degree in those countries.

Definition
Smoking refers to the action of lighting a cigarette, a pipe, a
cigar, a water pipe, or any other object made from tobacco
or materials of similar effects. The object is then sucked on
with the lips to extract smoke. This smoke is inhaled into the
chest and then exhaled from the nose and mouth as a thick
white smoke. "Smoking" is now used to refer to the action of
producing this smoke in English, Arabic, and other
languages.

Abstract:
Smoking is the single most important avoidable cause of
premature morbidity and mortality in the world. It is a major
public health problem in Pakistan. The objectives of this
study were to assess smoking status and its relationship to
socio-demographic characteristics, and to determine the
behavior of smokers in a selected people in Karachi,
Pakistan. Smoking and its effects survey is conducted among
50 people, aged 19-40 years. The majority of smokers (55%)
began smoking when younger than 22 years, smoked for
more than 5 years (53%), smoked more than 10 cigarettes a
day (55%) and smoked in public places (82%). Fifty-eight
percent of smokers smoked to relieve anger and frustration
and 30% smoked due to friend or peer pressure. In
conclusion, smoking is a major problem in especially in
younger age groups. There is an urgent need for health
promotion and anti-tobacco education in combating the
epidemic of smoking in Pakistan.
Introduction:
Smoking is a costly behavior. Apart from premature
morbidity and mortality, smoking puts an extra financial
burden on smokers, their families and the country as a
whole. In China, smokers in the Minhang district spend 17%
of their household income on cigarettes (Gong et al, 1995).
In Bangladesh (Efroymson et al, 2001), male cigarette
smokers spend more than twice as much on cigarettes, as
per capita expenditure, than on clothing, housing, health and
education combined. In Karachi (Merchant et al, 1998), ex-
smokers reported spending 25% of the total household
income on this habit.

In Pakistan, where over a third of the population is living in

poverty (Ministry of Population Welfare, 2002), smoking is
emerging rapidly as a major public health problem.
Community-based surveys (Alam, 1998; Shah et al, 2001)
conducted in different parts of the country reported 36% to
44% of adult males smoke. In Pakistan, the tobacco industry
is expanding at a rate of 5% per year (Anonymous,
1993).Cigarette advertising appears to increase young
people’s risk for smoking. In Pakistan, tobacco companies
are appealing to adolescents by using heroes (Simpson,
2002) (role models) and by offering costly prizes, such as
gold and air tickets for overseas tours. Forty-seven brands of
cigarettes are available in the country, containing some of
the highest concentrations of tar and nicotine in the word
(Asghar and Jan, 1989). Tobacco is also used in other forms
in Pakistan, such as snuff, or chewed with pan and betel nut.

The WHO has listed the prevention and treatment of tobacco

addiction as a priority for intervention in developing
countries (WHO, 1979). Rising cigarette consumption in
Pakistan warrants an early and effective public health
response. Several reasons have been suggested for the rise
of tobacco use in developing countries (Mackay, 1994), but
there is limited knowledge about the distribution and
characteristics of smokers in Pakistan, which could help to
facilitate preventive actions and to formulate intervention
strategies. The objectives of this study were to assess
smoking status and its relation to socio-demographic
characteristics, and to the behavior of male smokers in an
urban community in Karachi, Pakistan.
Previous Researches;
SMOKING AMONG ADULT MALES IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY
OF KARACHI, PAKISTAN
Ali Khan Khuwaja and Muhammad Masood Kadir
Department of Community Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University,
Karachi, Pakistan

Conducted research in the period of January and February

2002, and conclude that The majority of smokers (55%)
began smoking when younger than 25 years, smoked for
more than 5 years (53%), smoked more than
10 cigarettes a day (55%) and smoked in public places
(82%). Forty-two percent of the smokers used tobacco in
other forms as well. Fifty-eight percent of smokers smoked
to relieve anger and frustration and 30% smoked due to
friend or peer pressure. In conclusion, smoking is a major
problem in especially in younger age groups. There is an
urgent need for health promotion and anti-tobacco education
in combating the epidemic of smoking in Pakistan.

SMOKING ON THE RISE AMONG SCHOOLGIRLS

KARACHI, Sept 26: A high incidence of smoking has been

found among schoolgirls in the metropolis, according to a
research study that recommends a complete ban on tobacco
ads and strict enforcement of the anti-tobacco health
ordinance. The research study says the strategy has been
proved successful in bringing down the rate of tobacco use
in countries like the United Kingdom and Brazil. The research
study titled, Tobacco use among adolescent females in
Pakistan, has been recently conducted by Dr Javaid A. Khan,
Dr Suleman Haq and Dr Hammad Ganatra of the Pulmonary
and Critical Care Medicine Department of Aga Khan
University. The report will be published soon in the
International Journal of TB and Lung Disease. Under the
survey, a sample of 644 girls attending grades 8 to 12 in
government and private schools has been taken from Clifton,
Gulshan-i-Iqbal and the PECHS. The study shows that 16.3
per cent students smoked at least once in their life and 30-
day prevalence of smoking was found in 6.4 per cent
students. The research also refers to another study that puts
the figure of smoking prevalence among adolescent
schoolboys at 13.7 per cent.

Why we choose this topic;

Smoking was introduced to the Muslim countries by the
Europeans around 1000 AH. Its spread among the Muslims
was similar to that in the West. The unfortunate fact,
however, is that in the Muslim countries, no similar
measures were exerted to protect the people from it. To the
contrary, the media continues to adom smoking and
encourage people to do it. This caused the epidemic of
smoking to continue to spread in those countries to such an
extent that it has become hard to control.
As Smoking is one of the main problems of Pakistan and it is
a type of thing with which many people are engaged and this
quantity is increasing day by day. This research is for
watching out how people feel and why they want to smoke,
do they feel smoking is good or bad and what is the aspect
of good smoking or bad smoking.

Method of Research
The method which is used in conducting this survey is a
survey method. In this method we make Questionnaire
containing a set of questions and that is distributed among
the selected sample and then we get the results by
evaluating the data which we get. No one shows any type of
resistance while solving the questionnaire but they tried to
hide there names.
Subject;
We choose fifty people of age group 19-40 years all are
males, and link with different occupation major part of this
group is of students. Different people give there own
suggestion while solving the questionnaire but most of them
were worry about there identity and request not tried to
expose there name.

Procedure;
First we make Questionnaire first we did piral study and
then final study in piral study we selected twelve people and
then in final we selected fifty people, we choose students
which are from Muhammad Ali Jinnah University and Sir Syed
University.

The questionnaires which we used are as follows;

Questionnaire (Piral Study)

Name: _________________________ Occupation: ______________________
Age: ______ Family Status: ____________________

We would be delighted if you could take the time to

complete the following form. Kindly place a check (√) in
mention dashes.

Q1. Do you smoke?

Ans. _____ Yes ______ No

Q2. Why did you start smoking?

Ans.____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________

Q3. Approximately how much do you smoke?

Ans. _______ Cigarettes per day or ________ Cigarettes per week

Q4. How much money you spend on smoking?

Ans. _______ per day or _______ per week

Q5. How many years have you been smoking?

Ans. _____ less then a year _____ 2-3

_____ 3-4 _____ more then 5

Q6. How you feel while smoking?

Ans. ______ Excited _____ Cool _____ Relaxed

______Comfortable ______ Happy

Q7. Do you wish you could stop smoking?

Ans. _____ Yes ______ No ______ Not Sure

Q8. How much time you need to get rid off smoking?

Ans. _____ week or weeks ____ month or months ____year or

years
Q9. How do you want to get rid off the smoking?

Ans. ______ Using any other source _______ Yourself

Q10. Which of the following problems are connected with smoking?

Ans. ______ Lung cancer ______ Heart attack ______ Headache

______ Flu
______ Asthma ______ Coughing ______ Weight
gain/loss

Q11. Do you snore?

Ans. ______Yes _______ No ______ Not Sure

Q12. Do you have any family members who smoke?

Ans. ______ Brothers and sisters ______ Grandparents ______

Parents
______ Close friends ______ None

Questionnaire
Place a point on your choice.
Name:
Age:

○ How many cigarettes do you smoke in a day?

Less than 5 5 - 10 11 - 15 16 - 20 21 - 30 31 or
more

○ Do you smoke your first cigarette within 30 minutes of waking? Yes No

○ Are you intending to stop smoking in the next 6 months? Yes No

If Yes, Are you intending to stop within the next month? Yes
No

If NO, Would you like to stop if it was easy? Yes No Not

Sure

○ If you were to try to stop smoking, how confident would you be about succeeding?

very confident fairly confident not confident

○ What are the good things for you about smoking? (Place a check (√) in a box)

Very
Quite important Not important
important
it helps me to relax
it helps to break up my working time
it is something to do when I am bored
it helps me to cope with stress
I enjoy it
it is something I do with my friends or
family
it stops me putting on weight
it stops me getting withdrawal symptoms
 Page turn on please…
○ What are the things you don't like about your smoking? (Place a check (√) in a box)

Very
Quite important Not important
important
it is expensive
it is bad for my health
I don't like feeling dependent on
cigarettes
it makes my clothes and breath smell
it is a bad example for children
it is unpleasant for people near me
it makes me less fit
people around me disapprove of my
smoking
it is bad for the health of people near me

○ What might make it difficult for you to stop smoking? (Place a check (√) in a box)

Very important Quite important Not important

I enjoy smoking too much
I don't think I have enough willpower
I think I would put on weight
I would be too stressed
I think I am too addicted to cigarettes
my partner smokes
I would miss smoking with friends
I can't resist the craving for a cigarette
I don't really want to stop
I would be bored
I would miss smoking breaks at work

○ Do you think that ...

Yes No Don't know

If you keep smoking you are more likely to become ill in the
future?
If you stop smoking, you will be healthier in the future?
The number of cigarettes you smoke will damage your health?

○ Does your smoking worry you? Yes No

Thank you for filling this

Analysis and Result;

This result is calculated as taken each part of question and
result is out of 100%.
In the group of fifty people we found;

• Began smoking when younger

55%/100%
 • Most of the persons taking cigarettes more
55%/100%
then ten per day
• Intending to stop smoking in next 6 months
42%/100%
• Confident of get rid of Smoking
20%/100%

According to them good things of Smoking are;

• Relaxation
58%/100%
• Helps to break up there working time
15%/100%
• Cope up with stress
85%/100%
• Enjoy it
96%/100%
• Something to do with friends
97%/100%

According to them bad things of Smoking are;

• Expensive
89%/100%
• Bad for Health
92%/100%
• Dependent on cigarettes
11%/100%
• Make my clothes and mouth smell
09%/100%
• Bad example for children
82%/100%
• People around me dislike it
77%/100%
• Makes me less fit
39%/100%
According to them the things that make difficult to stop
smoking;

• Enjoyment
97%/100%
• Become to stressed
63%/100%
• My partner or friends smoke
77%/100%
• Don’t want to stop
29%/100%
• Be bored
95%/100%

And if they;

• Keep smoking then become ill in future

59%/100%
• Stop smoking become healthier
64%/100%
• Number of cigarettes you smoke are damaging
36%/100%
your health

On overall evaluation smoking is consider as a great

pleasure as it give relief from stress and also it give the
feeling of enjoyment. People don’t want to leave smoking
behind this main reason is there gatherings and also they
start smoking with friends and colleagues and people even
in our research many people agree that if they left few of
there friends they can stop smoking but it is very hard and
impossible for them to do so.
DISCUSSION
The National Health Survey of Pakistan (NHS,P) (Pakistan
Medical Research Council, 1998), reported that 29% of males
(15 years and above) were smokers, while a recently
published study from northern Pakistan (Shah et al, 2001)
showed the prevalence of smoking among adult males as
44%. In our study, 34% of respondents were current
smokers, which are higher than that documented in the NHS,
P. A possible reason might be that there has been an
ongoing rise in smoking prevalence in developing countries
(WHO, 1997; 1999), including Pakistan, since the NHS, P was
conducted in 1992. Smoking is not socially accepted in
Pakistan. Some study participants, particularly the students,
are trying to hidden their name, during filling the
Questionnaire.
In different parts of the world (Pakistan Medical Research
Council, 1998; Jarallah et al, 1999), the highest prevalence of
smoking is found among the younger age groups and falls
steadily in older age. These findings are consistent with our
study where smokers were more than four times likely to be
in a younger age group. Among the study participants who
were unmarried, more than half were smokers, a highly
significant when compared to married respondents (p <
0.001). The level of education has been associated with
smoking in a large number of studies (Narayan et al, 1996;
Merchant et al, 1998). In those studies, an inverse
relationship was seen between the level of education and
the prevalence of smoking. In contrast, our study showed a
significantly higher smoking prevalence among the more
highly educated (p = 0.002) consistent with a study done in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Saeed et al, 1996). Maziak and Mzayek
(2000) in Aleppo- Syria and Hussain et al (1995) in Pakistan
documented the rising prevalence of smoking among
students. In our study, students were more than three times
more likely to be smokers than respondents who had
office/business occupations. The NHS,P(Pakistan Medical
Research Council,
1998) reported that the majority of smokers belonged to
low-income groups. Our study showed no significant
association between the different income groups. Possible
reasons for this may include the larger sample size of the
NHS,P, and it collected information from both urban and
rural areas.
There was a strong association between duration smoked,
the number of cigarettes smoked, and the development of
different diseases (Taioli and Wynder, 1991). Most smokers
first acquired their habit during their pre-teen or teenage
years (Elders et al, 1994). In a study from Pakistan, the
average age students started smoking was 17 years, with
88% having started before their 21st birthday (Hussain et al,
1995).
Amongst the students of Karachi, 50% smoked for
pleasurable relaxation and 38% for tension reduction
(Ahmed and Jafarey, 1983), the major influence for initiation
was their friends (Hussain et al, 1995). In our study, the most
common reasons to start smoking, were to have enjoyment
or relieve anger and frustration and to help concentrate on
work. These findings indicate that a large number of people
may suffer from psychosocial problems, such as anxiety,
frustration, nervousness or being over-burdened at work. A
large number of smokers started to smoke due to friends or
colleagues and to ‘look good’. These findings suggest that
tobacco companies, which have put a heavy influence on
advertising tobacco to youth through their heroes and role
models, have been successful.
This study indicates that majority of smokers began smoking
in their early life, and have a prolonged exposure to
smoking. Major efforts should be directed toward
implementing health education programs for children and
adolescents at schools and colleges by using various media
as a platform. The study results also make a strong case for
educating people about the hazards of passive smoking,
discouraging smoking at home, particularly in the presence
of children, and restricting smoking in public places and at
work.

Suggestions
More research is required to explore the various factors
responsible for smoking among different populations.
Intervention studies should be conducted to bring change
and to monitor changes in the prevalence, and the various
causes for initiating, continuing and quitting smoking, and to
evaluate change in behavior and attitude towards smoking.
The most effective methods for antismoking programs
should be explored.
It is important to implement and monitor strict
environmental and legislative initiatives to ensure the
success of tobacco control activities.
Prohibition of cigarette sales to youngsters, prohibition of
smoking in public places, and a ban on smoking
advertisements are important steps in this regard.
References
Elders JM, Perry CI, Eriksen MP, et al. The report of the
Surgeon General. Preventing tobacco use among young
people.
Am J Public Health 1994; 84: 543- 47.
Hussain SF, Moid I, Khan JA. Attitudes of Asian medical
students towards smoking.
Thorax 1995; 50: 996-7.

Saeed AA, Khoja TA, Khan SB. Smoking behavior and

attitudes among adult Saudi nationals in Riyadh City, Saudi
Arabia.
Tobacco Control 1996; 5: 215-6.

Narayan KMV, Chadha SL, Hanson RL, et al. Prevalence and

pattern of smoking in Delhi: cross-sectional study.
Br Med J 1996; 312: 1576-9

Pakistan Medical Research Council. National health survey of

Pakistan 1990 - 94. Islamabad: Network
Publication Services, 1998.

Taioli E, Wynder EL. Effect of the age at which smoking

begins on frequency of smoking in adulthood.
N Engl J Med 1991; 325: 968-9.

World Health Organization. Tobacco or health: a global

status report. Geneva: WHO, 1997.

Table of Contents
Something about Tobacco
1
Discovery of Tobacco
Definition
Abstract
2

Introduction
3

Previous Researches
4
Smoking among Adult
Smoking on the rise among schoolgirls

Why we choose this topic

5

Method of Research
6
Subject
Procedure

Questionnaire
7

Analysis and Result

9

Discussion
11

Suggestions
12

References
13