More smokers looking to buy insurance
ICICI Lombard General Insurance did a survey to understand the mindset on smoking and its health hazards and the results are quite interesting:
Covid had an interesting impact on smokers, according to a recent survey on tobacco consumption by insurance company ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co, ahead of the ‘World No Tobacco Day’, which fell on 31 May. The survey, which had a sample size of 785, revealed that 49% of the smokers either decreased or quit smoking amid the pandemic, and 29% did so out of fear. Among the former category, 60% of the respondents highlighted the reason to be the fear of increasing risk amid the pandemic, while 32% reduced or quit smoking due to non-availability of cigarettes. On the contrary, 38% increased their consumption of cigarettes in the same time period, out of which 77% cited stress as the reason and 67% mentioned boredom.
The survey focused on understanding the impact of harmful substances on the body and mind, identifying key trends across cities with a high smoker population, studying the impact of covid related-stress on smokers, and decoding the perception difference among traditional and e-cigarette smokers.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Some of the key highlights of the survey are:
♦ 60% of the respondents started smoking between 18-25 years of age
♦ 55% started smoking under social influence and 57% of them belong to the age group of 18-25 years
♦ 56% took to smoking out of curiosity and 67% of respondents in this category were minors. When they started smoking. 65% of these respondents were staying away from their families
♦ Among youngsters, millennials cited stress as the primary reason for smoking
♦ 47% smokers smoke several times a day, while 25% need to smoke once in a day
♦ 79% smokers find it difficult to stop smoking
♦ 70% of the 45+ age group smoke indoors as compared to 53% from the lower age strata
♦ 50% of heavy smokers are men and 40% are women.
♦ 39% women prefer e-cigarettes as compared to 25% in men
Out of the respondents smoking several times in a day and classified as heavy smokers, 53% are from the Tier 2 cities and among that 53% are from the eastern part of the country.
AWARENESS ABOUT HARM
Quite interestingly ,82% of the respondents said they are aware of ‘World No Tobacco Day’, out of which 71% were able to recall the exact date. 90% of people consuming e-cigarettes are aware of the No Tobacco Day, as compared to 79% of traditional cigarette consumers. And 73% of the respondents are aware that tobacco causes lung cancer and 53% are aware of the habit resulting into oral cancer.
QUITTING SMOKING
The survey also brought out that people stopped smoking 4 times in a year on an average and 77% of them have tried to quit in the last 2 years. Post deciding, it can take up to an average of 8 years to quit smoking. And nearly 86% of smokers who smoke once a day have tried quitting, and 89% of the respondents cited the various communication on the risks related to smoking as their motivation to quit.
On the other side, 79% find it challenging to quit smoking, but 86% have tried to quit in the last 2 years. And 85% respondents who tried to quit in the last 2 years had pre-existing health conditions and 71% had no medical records, while 54% respondents who were advised medically to quit smoking still continue to smoke as they find it difficult to quit
The survey also delved i nto the response of smokers towards health insurance and found that 79% of the total respondents currently have an active health insurance and 55% are planning to buy one in the next 6 months. The proportion of respondents from 21-30 years age group having health insurance is lower, and stands at 70% as compared to 85% in the age group of 30 and above. Nearly 72% of the respondents in tier 2 cities have a health insurance, as compared to 85% in metros. 83% of the respondents mentioned having disclosed their smoking habit while buying health insurance and 81% mentioned that they are willing to pay any additional amount, on an average up to 20% extra, because of their smoking habit.
The survey also brought out significant factors about non-smokers. It found 24% of the respondents were regular smokers but have quit in the last 2 years and 61% said they never smoked but have a close family member, who does. Among those who quit, 80% mentioned about their family members being aware of their smoking habits. And 85% respondents mentioned that they received help and support from the family members in order to quit smoking.