Behavioural interventions for tobacco cessation in India: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Tobacco consumption is an area of public health concern in India. One of the unmet needs of many low-resource countries is to provide cost-effective tobacco cessation interventions for reducing tobacco-related mortality. This article reviews studies on non-pharmacological interventions for tobacco cessation in India. A systematic review by PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcome) of behavioural intervention-based tobacco cessation studies that met the inclusion criteria, with a minimum 1-month follow-up, reporting outcomes in terms of frequencies or percentages published between 2010 and 2020 was performed. Following the review stages, 16 studies comprising 9,613 participants were included in the review. A pooled estimate was derived using both fixed-effects and random-effects models. The intervention showed good overall efficacy for any tobacco user (relative risk [RR] = 1.73 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.58-1.90) (fixed-effect model)] and (RR = 2.02 [95% CI: 1.64-2.48] [random-effects model]). Behavioural intervention studies targeted towards only smokers (RR of 1.81 [95% CI: 1.55-2.11] and 1.96 [95% CI: 1.52-2.53]) and combined smoking and smokeless tobacco users (RR of 1.69 [95% CI: 1.50-1.90] and 2.12 [95% CI: 1.49-3.01]) were equally efficacious. The review provides the effectiveness of behavioural interventions in quitting tobacco among users of both smoking and smokeless forms of tobacco. The review findings are of particular significance to inform health policy decisions on the integration of cost-effective brief behavioural intervention into existing health care services in resource-constrained countries.

Tobacco Cessation Program among Cab Drivers in Mumbai, India: An Interventional Study

BACKGROUND

Tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats, killing nearly seven million people annually. With implementation of smoke-free public places legislation, cabs in India are smoke free. However, large majority of cab drivers are addicted to tobacco.

AIMS

The objectives were to measure cab drivers' knowledge, attitude, and practices about tobacco pre and post intervention, educate them regarding hazards of tobacco and need for smoke-free cabs, perform oral cancer screening, and provide assistance to quit tobacco.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

This interventional study among cab drivers was conducted in Mumbai during 2015-2018. Different cab unions in Mumbai were contacted and 400 cab drivers were enrolled and interviewed. They were offered health education, oral cancer screening, and tobacco cessation assistance at regular intervals for 1 year.

RESULTS

About 63.8% of cab drivers used tobacco, mainly in smokeless forms. Almost 94.1% intended to quit, 66.3% had made previous quit attempts, and 69.8% expressed the need of assistance for quitting. One hundred and twelve cab drivers were diagnosed with oral precancers and one with oral carcinoma. About 49.4% of cab drivers quit tobacco and 46.7% reduced tobacco consumption at the end of 1 year. According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, Muslim cab drivers were less likely to quit tobacco as compared to Hindus.

CONCLUSION

Adherence to smoke-free laws plays a significant role in reducing exposure of cab drivers to secondhand smoke. This program demonstrates the successful implementation of tobacco cessation program that could be replicated among other workforces.

Screening for Early Detection of Cervical Cancer in Women Living with HIV in Mumbai, India - Retrospective Cohort Study from a Tertiary Cancer Center

Introduction Women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have an increased risk of persistent human papillomavirus infection (HPV) of developing cervical cancer precursors and are, therefore, considered at higher risk for cervical cancer. Despite the higher risk, screening for cervical cancer is extremely low among HIV-positive women in India.

Objectives Given the limited usefulness of cytology-based screening programs, the current study retrospectively evaluated the comparative performance of visual inspection with 5% acetic acid (VIA), conventional cytology, and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing among HIV-positive women attending the cancer screening clinic at the tertiary cancer center.

Materials and Methods Retrospective analysis of 291 HIV-positive women attending cervical cancer screening services in a tertiary cancer center in Mumbai was undertaken. All underwent simultaneous screening with VIA, Pap cytology, and HPV DNA testing, followed by diagnostic colposcopy and histopathology. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) to detect cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2/3 on histology were estimated.

Results The screen positivity rate for cervical cancer screening by VIA, high-risk HPV DNA, and Pap cytology was 35.7, 34.4, and 6.2% respectively. At the CIN2+ disease threshold, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV estimates were 80.00% (59.30–93.17), 68.42% (62.46–73.96), 19.23% (15.46–23.67), 97.33% (94.30–98.77) for VIA; 80.00% (68.78–97.45), 70.68% (64.81–76.08), 22.00% (18.22–26.32), 98.43% (95.58–99.45) for HPV DNA; and 64.00% (42.52–82.03), 98.12% (95.67–99.39), 76.19% (56.13–88.89), 96.67% (94.50–98.00) for cytology (HSIL cutoff).

Conclusion The diagnostic performance of VIA and HPV DNA was comparable and better than cytology indicating that VIA as a cost-effective cervical cancer screening test can be incorporated within the services under sexually transmitted diseases /HIV testing and counseling centers within the country.

Determinants of Compliance for Breast and Cervical Cancers Screening among Female Police Personnel of Mumbai, India—A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction Women working in police force have unique and vital role to play in law enforcement. Although these women have established a secured place for themselves in the police force, they are exposed to several behavioral and health risks apart from job stress. All these can have potentially serious consequences on their well-being.

Objectives To determine the compliance to breast and uterine cervical cancers screening and identify predictors of participation in breast and cervical cancers screening among women police personnel.

Materials and Methods This is a cross-sectional study conducted among the Mumbai police personnel during the period 2019 to 2021. All women working for Mumbai police work force in 12 zones were invited to participate in the study. Temporary clinics for screening were set up in different police stations and eligible participants were enrolled after obtaining written informed consent. This was followed by sociodemographic and risk factor assessment, health education program, screening for common cancers conducted by trained primary health workers (breast by clinical breast examination and uterine cervix by visual inspection with 5% acetic acid). Screen positives were referred according to predefined referral criteria for further investigations and management.

Results A total of 3,017 police women were contacted, among them, 2,629 (87.14%) were eligible for screening, 2,609 (99.24%) participated in health education, and 1,839 (69.95%) complied for breast or cervical cancer screening. Further, compliance for screening of breast and uterine cervix were 1,837 (91.67%) and 1,297 (64.72%). A total of 256 (13.94%) and 217 (11.81%) police women were screen positives for breast and cervical cancers. According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, women younger than 50 years, those who were not married or were widowed or separated, postmenopausal women, and those who did not have shift duties had higher compliance for breast and cervix cancers screening.

Conclusion Good participation for breast and cervical cancers screening was seen among the women police personnel. This study has demonstrated that awareness and screening by simple low-cost methods for breast and cervical cancers screening is easily implementable and can be replicated among the women police force in different states of India.

Cross-Sectional Study of HPV Self-Sampling among Indian Women—A Way Forward

Molecular human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA is a recommended test for any country planning cervical cancer screening as a national policy. The emerging literature proposes HPV self-sampling (HPV-SS) as a feasible implementing strategy in low-income settings. The success of this strategy would depend on developing impactful health education materials, understanding modalities toward generating awareness, and precision in performing the screening test among beneficiaries. The current paper is an interim analysis of ongoing research undertaken to understand the acceptability of HPV-SS among Indian women across different community settings. The study design has two modalities for generating awareness: (1) health education arm wherein the awareness and steps of collecting self-sample are explained by health personnel, and (2) the pamphlet arm wherein pictorial illustrations depicting the steps to conduct HPV-SS are distributed among women. The quality of samples is compared with primary health worker samples (PHW-S). Initial results of this study support the acceptance of HPV-SS (97%) among urban slum settings. An agreement between HPV-SS and PHW-S was demonstrated to be 95.1%. The results of the pamphlet arm were comparable to the health education arm in every aspect. The art-based strategy seems like a promising communication modality for generating awareness toward cervical cancer screening using HPV-SS in low-resource settings.

Screening for breast cancer: Cost-effective solutions for low- & middle-income countries

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have limited financial resources and proportionately smaller portions allocated for health budget. With competing health priorities, treatment of the diagnosed cases and establishment of treatment facilities are the main concerns in LMICs. Infectious diseases, reducing infant, child and maternal mortality may seem crucial as compared to early cancer detection. LMICs that are committed to providing comprehensive cancer care, will need to judiciously choose the screening tool depending on specifics of how the tool is expected to perform in the population and the cost-effectiveness with respect to the number of lives expected to be saved. Increasing awareness about breast health in general and common cancers and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), in particular, may lead to symptomatic women approaching the healthcare facilities at an earlier stage. When the limited available resources are mobilized towards cancer screening, increasing awareness would lead to greater acceptability of the programme. The reach of the programme to achieve good population coverage, the establishment of the diagnostic referral linkages and the availability and accessibility of treatment facilities, will all decide the outcome of the screening programme.

Evaluating the Performance of Hybrid Capture 2 Test as a Primary Screening Test from Studies Conducted in Low and Middle-Income Country Settings- Special Focus India

Among the screening tests for cervical cancer, advantages of screening with second generation molecular Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) test is the high sensitivity and negative predictive value that makes it easy to implement as a cervical cancer screening policy necessitating less screening rounds. High income countries are now implementing HC2 test in their national cervical cancer screening program. Since the acceptance of any screening test depends on the sensitivity of the test, the current study was carried out to evaluate the sensitivity of HC2 test reported from Low- and Middle-income countries (LMIC) which share major burden of cervical cancer globally and to establish if HC2 test could be used as a primary screening test in India.

Determinants of Compliance to Population-Based Oral Cancer Screening Program among low Socioeconomic Women in Mumbai, India

Background

The use of tobacco, especially smokeless variety, is common and culturally accepted among Indian women. Hence, oral cavity cancers rank as the fourth most common cancers among Indian women.

Objectives

The objectives of this study were to study factors determining compliance of women for oral cancer screening in a population-based program in Mumbai and to create awareness among women regarding ill effects of tobacco and importance of oral cancer screening.

Materials and Methods

This is a community-based organized service program for awareness and screening of oral cavity cancers among women residing in low socioeconomic areas of Mumbai, India. Screening was conducted by oral visual inspection by trained primary health workers (PHWs). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify predictors of participation in oral cancer screening.

Results

138,383 population was surveyed, out of which 13,492 eligible women were enlisted for oral cancer screening. Among these, 12,495 were contacted and 11,895 (95.12%) women participated in a cancer awareness program and 11,768 (94.18%) participated in oral cancer screening. According to results of multivariate logistic regression analysis, women belonging to Hindu religion 94.57%, with mother tongue Marathi 94.76%, and with family history of cancer 95.84% complied significantly higher to oral cancer screening as compared to other women.

Conclusion

This program has assisted in identifying predictors of compliance to oral cavity screening. Furthermore, it demonstrates that good compliance can be achieved through multiple household visits, personal invitation during camps, organizing well-planned Health Education Program, and the use of simple, low-cost visual inspection test performed by trained PHWs.

Evidence based appropriate triage strategies for implementing high risk HPV as primary technology in cervical cancer screening

Primary cervical cancer screening by HPV testing for high risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) is expected to replace cytology-based programs in many parts of the world. Its high sensitivity and negative predictive value permit longer screening intervals up to beyond five years. However, low positive predictive value can lead to unnecessary referrals and overtreatment since most hrHPV infections are transient and will not develop disease. Therefore risk stratification is needed to effectively triage and identify women among the hrHPV positives, who are at an increased risk of cervical (pre)cancer who need further diagnostic evaluation to decide on further management. Several triage strategies like HPV16/18 genotyping, p16/Ki67 dual staining and DNA methylation markers (CADM1, MAL and miR-124-2) have been evaluated to determine suitable triage options. Triage with p16/Ki-67 dual-stain provided better long-term risk stratification than cytology with significant reduction in cumulative 5 years CIN3+ risk in p16/Ki-67 negative women. DNA methylation assays have shown higher specificity than cytology and higher sensitivity than HPV16/18 genotyping with added advantages of reproducibility and application on self-collected samples. Based on current evidence, Pap cytology with or without additional HPV16/18 genotyping remains the most recommended triage strategies for primary HPV screening. Other strategies will need more longitudinal studies to provide evidence of risk reduction in test negative results. WHO recommends Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) for triaging HPV-positive women in LMIC settings. An optimal triage strategy that can be integrated with primary HPV screening should be able to segregate and reassure the large majority of women who are at very low risk of cervical cancer.

Cervical Cancer Screening in Low Resource Settings: Cytology versus HPV Triage for VIA Positive Women

Background:

The objective of the study is to comparatively evaluate performance of human papillomavirus (HPV) hybrid capture 2 (HC2) and cytology as triage tests among visual inspection after application of 3–5% acetic acid (VIA) screen positive women, thus aiming to reduce the referral burden.

Methods:

The community-based cross sectional cervical cancer screening with VIA was conducted among women aged between 30 and 65, residing in selected low socio-economic areas of Mumbai, India, during October 2010–March 2017. After obtaining informed consent, delivering health education and collecting socio-demographic data, participants were offered VIA screening by trained primary health workers. The VIA screen positive women underwent cytology, HPV HC2 and diagnostic colposcopy at nodal hospital. Women with positive colposcopy underwent cervical biopsies.

Results:

231 VIA positive women underwent cytology and HPV HC2 test, followed by colposcopy. Cervical biopsies were obtained in 83 cases. The sensitivity and specificity in detecting ≥ CIN 2 were 77.8 and 92.3 for HC2 and 66.7 and 98.2 for cytology. The false positivity and negativity rates were 7.7 and 22.2 for HC2 and 1.8 and 33.3 for cytology.

Conclusions:

HPV HC2 reduces referrals to larger extent and misses fewer cases compared to cytology, thus appearing a better triage test among VIA positive women.

Smokeless tobacco use and oral neoplasia among urban Indian women

OBJECTIVES

Oral cavity cancers are fourth most common cancers among Indian women. The objectives were to create cancer awareness (CA) and screen tobacco-using women for oral cavity cancers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A community-based CA and screening programme was conducted among women in Mumbai, India. The tobacco-using women participated in CA and oral cavity screening by oral visual inspection (OVI). All screen-positive women were referred to nodal hospital and assisted for diagnostic confirmation and treatment completion.

RESULTS

Twelve slum clusters comprising of 138,383 population and 13,492 tobacco-using women have been covered. Among them, 11,895 (88.2%) participated in CA and 11,768 (87.2%) in OVI. A total of 377 (3.2%) women were screened positive, 275 (72.9%) complied with referral and 207 oral precancers [173 leukoplakia, 9 erythroplakia, 3 erythroleukoplakia and 41 sub-mucus fibrosis (SMF) including 35 women with multiple precancers] and 7 oral cancers were diagnosed. The detection rate of oral precancerous lesions and oral cancers was 17.6 and 0.6 per 1,000 screened women. Thirty-five women had multiple oral precancerous lesions. The results of multivariate analysis indicate dose-response relationship between tobacco use and risk of oral precancers.

CONCLUSION

Good participation rates (>85%) for cancer awareness and OVI were seen among urban slum women in India. Many oral precancer and cancer cases were detected and were managed at the nodal hospital.

Evaluation of cytology as secondary triage in visual inspection after application of 4% acetic acid-based cervical cancer screening program

Context (Background):

Visual-based screening techniques are low cost and have good sensitivity. Hence, they appear promising for primary screening in low-resource settings. However, to reduce referrals for diagnostic colposcopy, there is need to triage these screen-positive women with test with good specificity.

Aims:

The study aims to evaluate the performance of cytology as triage for visual inspection after application of 4% acetic acid (VIA) screen-positive women.

Settings and Design:

Community-based cervical cancer screening using VIA was implemented among socioeconomically disadvantaged women in Mumbai, India.

Methods:

Cytology was performed on screen-positive women. All primarily screen-positive women underwent colposcopy. Directed biopsies were obtained among women with positive findings on colposcopy. The gold standard used for final disease status was histopathology or negative colposcopy.

Statistical Analysis Used:

Test characteristics of cytology as triage test.

Results:

Among the 138,383 population, 16,424 eligible women were screened with VIA. 785 (4.78%) women were VIA positive and 580 women participated in triage with cytology. The sensitivity and specificity of cytology at threshold of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance in detecting ≥cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2 were 75.0 and 94.7, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values of cytology as triage test were 23.1 and 99.4, respectively, and the false positivity and false negativity rates were 5.34 and 25.0, respectively.

Conclusion:

Cytology triage with VIA can reduce referrals for colposcopy to 4.97% of original referrals but may miss around 25%, of high-grade CIN. The substantial reduction in referrals has special implication for low-resource settings, wherein compliance to referral and availability of diagnostic facilities are poor.

Compliance with point-of-sale tobacco control policies and student tobacco use in Mumbai, India

BACKGROUND

We measured how student tobacco use and psychological risk factors (intention to use and perceived ease of access to tobacco products) were associated with tobacco vendor compliance with India's Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act provisions regulating the point-of-sale (POS) environment.

METHODS

We conducted a population-based cross-sectional survey of high school students (n=1373) and tobacco vendors (n=436) in school-adjacent communities (n=26) in Mumbai, India. We used in-class self-administered questionnaires of high school students, face-to-face interviews with tobacco vendors and compliance checks of tobacco POS environments. Logistic regression models with adjustments for clustering were used to measure associations between student tobacco use, psychological risk factors and tobacco POS compliance.

RESULTS

Compliance with POS laws was low overall and was associated with lower risk of student current tobacco use (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.91) and current smokeless tobacco use (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.77), when controlling for student-level and community-level tobacco use risk factors. Compliance was not associated with student intention to use tobacco (OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.21 to 1.18) and perceived ease of access to tobacco (OR 0.73; 95% CI 0.53 to 1.00).

CONCLUSIONS

Improving vendor compliance with tobacco POS laws may reduce student tobacco use. Future studies should test strategies to improve compliance with tobacco POS laws, particularly in low-income and middle-income country settings like urban India.

Prevention of Cervix Cancer in India

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally and the second most common cancer among Indian women. India alone bears 23% of the global cervical cancer burden. In India, population-based cervical cancer screening is largely nonexistent in most regions due to competing healthcare priorities, insufficient financial resources and a limited number of trained providers. Hence, most of the cases present in advanced stages of the disease, thus leading to increased mortality and reduced survival. Various screening options like cytology, visual-based screening and testing for high-risk HPV are available. Several cross-sectional studies have looked at the comparative efficacy of different screening tests. Three important randomized controlled trials from India have shown the efficacy of screening once in a life time with HPV DNA, one-time screening with VIA by trained nurses and four-time screening with VIA by trained primary health workers, reducing mortality due to cervical cancers. Prevention of cervical cancers with two-dose HPV vaccination and early detection of precancerous cervical lesions of the eligible population through screening and their appropriate treatment with a single-visit 'screen-and-treat' approach appear to be promising for low-middle-income countries including India.

Impact of 'gutkha and pan masala ban' in the state of Maharashtra on users and vendors

BACKGROUND

Gutkha and pan masala contain harmful and carcinogenic chemicals. Hence, Maharashtra Government banned their manufacture, storage, distribution and sale on 19 th July 2012 for a year.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study is to determine the impact of the ban on gutkha and pan masala on its users and vendors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross- sectional study was conducted among gutkha and/or pan masala users and tobacco vendors in the selected area of Mumbai city, 4-6 months after the implementation of the ban. The parameters studied included knowledge regarding the ban, usage or discontinuation of use of the banned products, product availability, withdrawal symptoms among quitters, etc.,

RESULTS

A total of 68 users and five tobacco vendors were enrolled in this study. Although all users were aware about the ban on gutkha, very few knew about the ban on pan masala. Only 5.9% of users knew that currently the ban had been declared for only 1 year. Electronic media was the main source of information regarding the ban as reported by 45.6% users. All users and vendors were in favor of the ban. After the ban, 23.53% gutkha users quit their habit while 55.88% reduced their gutkha consumption. Non-availability of gutkha was the most important reason stated by the gutkha users for quitting or reducing the consumption. In spite of the ban, gutkha is still available in the market, but at an increased cost or in a different form.

CONCLUSION

Nearly 23.53% of gutkha users have quit their habit post-ban despite its availability through illegal sources.

Determinants of exposure to second-hand smoke at home and outside the home among students aged 11-17 years: results from the Mumbai Student Tobacco Survey 2010

BACKGROUND

While no level of exposure to Second-hand smoke (SHS) is free of risk, 37% of students from South-East Asia region were exposed to SHS.

AIMS

To estimate the prevalence of exposure to SHS and identify predictors of exposure to SHS at home and outside the home among 1,511 school students aged 11-17 years.

SETTING

The City of Mumbai.

STUDY DESIGN

This study used a two-stage cluster sampling design.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Mumbai Student Tobacco Survey (MSTS) was a cross-sectional study, using anonymous self-administered structured questionnaire among students. The probability of schools being selected was proportional to the enrolment into grades 8 to 10. The study aimed to sample around 60 students from selected classes in each chosen school.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Proportions, 95% confidence interval and adjusted odds ratios (AOR) were used.

RESULTS

About 79.9% students were aware about the current smoking ban at public places and 88.1% were knowledgeable about the deleterious influence of SHS on them. Overall, 16.5% of students were exposed to SHS at home, and 39.9% outside of the home. Students from families where at least one parent used tobacco were at the greatest risk of SHS exposure at home in addition to outside the home exposure. Those students who were not aware about the smoking ban in public places were at a significantly higher risk of SHS exposure outside the home.

CONCLUSION

Self-reported tobacco use status, age, parents' tobacco use, close friends' smoking, and the route they take to school were significant determinants of exposure to SHS at home and outside the home.

An overview of the tobacco problem in India

This is a review paper comprehensively encompassing the different aspects of tobacco control with particular reference to the Indian scenario. The information on prevalent tobacco habits in India, health hazards and environmental hazards due to tobacco use, passive smoking and its impact, economics of tobacco, legislation to control tobacco in India, the tobacco cessation services and the way ahead for effective tobacco control are discussed. Tobacco is a leading preventable cause of death, killing nearly six million people worldwide each year. Reversing this entirely preventable manmade epidemic should be our top priority. This global tobacco epidemic kills more people than tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. This epidemic can be resolved by becoming aware of the devastating effects of tobacco, learning about the proven effective tobacco control measures, national programmes and legislation prevailing in the home country and then engaging completely to halt the epidemic to move toward a tobacco-free world. India is the second largest consumer of tobacco globally, and accounts for approximately one-sixth of the world's tobacco-related deaths. The tobacco problem in India is peculiar, with consumption of variety of smokeless and smoking forms. Understanding the tobacco problem in India, focusing more efforts on what works and investigating the impact of sociocultural diversity and cost-effectiveness of various modalities of tobacco control should be our priority.

An overview of prevention and early detection of cervical cancers

Cervical cancer still remains the most common cancer affecting the Indian women. India alone contributes 25.41% and 26.48% of the global burden of cervical cancer cases and mortality, respectively. Ironically, unlike most other cancers, cervical cancer can be prevented through screening by identifying and treating the precancerous lesions, any time during the course of its long natural history, thus preventing the potential progression to cervical carcinoma. Several screening methods, both traditional and newer technologies, are available to screen women for cervical precancers and cancers. No screening test is perfect and hence the choice of screening test will depend on the setting where it is to be used. Similarly, various methods are available for treatment of cervical precancers and the selection will depend on the cost, morbidity, requirement of reliable biopsy specimens, resources available, etc. The recommendations of screening for cervical cancer in the Indian scenario are discussed.