Poverty does not limit tobacco consumption in Cambodia: quantitative estimate of tobacco use under conditions of no income and adult malnutrition.

Current data indicate that under conditions of poverty, tobacco is consumed at the expense of basic needs. In a large national sample from Cambodia, we sought to determine whether tobacco consumption declines under extreme conditions of no income and malnutrition. Our major findings are as follows: (1) Among men, there was no significant difference in the number of cigarettes smoked for no income (425, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 395-456) versus >US$2 per day (442, 95% CI = 407-477); (2) among women, there was no significant difference in the amount of loose tobacco (ie, betel quid) consumed for no income (539 g, 95% CI = 441-637) versus >US$2 per day (558 g, 95% CI = 143-973); (3) for the contrast of no income + malnutrition versus >US$2 per day + no malnutrition in a linear model, there was no significant difference for men who smoked (462 vs 517 cigarettes/month, P = .82) or women who chewed (316 vs 404 g tobacco/month, P = .34), adjusting for confounders. Among the poorest and malnourished Cambodian adults, lack of resources did not appear to prevent them from obtaining smoked or smokeless tobacco.