Objectives: We aimed to understand tobacco use and treatment patterns among adults starting care in a Chennai HIV clinic. Methods: Cross-sectional survey of adults initiating HIV care with biochemical verification of tobacco exposure. Results: Among 154 adult patients (10/2019-12/2021) initiating HIV care, 37.7% (n = 58) self-reported current tobacco use (13.6% n = 21 smoking, 17.5% n = 27 smokeless tobacco SLT, 6.5% n = 10 dual use) and 7.8% (n = 12) reported former use (5.8% n = 9 smoking, 1.3% n = 2 SLT, 0.6% n = 1 dual), none reported using cessation medications, two reported counseling. Cotinine levels indicating current use varied by tobacco product (smoking: 66.7% had cotinine ≥ 50ng/ml; SLT: 70.4%; dual: 80.0%, no current tobacco: 44.8%, p = 0.02). Conclusion: Smoking and SLT use are common and underreported and evidence-based cessation treatment use was rare prior to HIV care initiation.
Poongulali et al. (Tue,) studied this question.