Comparison of the mean age of tobacco initiation among the daily users as per the two rounds of Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) India
| Characteristics | Daily smoked tobacco | Daily smokeless tobacco | ||||
| GATS 1 Mean±SD | GATS 2 Mean±SD | P value | GATS 1 Mean±SD | GATS 2 Mean±SD | P value | |
| Number total | N=9223 | N=7647 | N=13 410 | N=12 721 | ||
| Overall | 18.5±9.7 | 20.9±8.5 | <0.01 | 19.7±12.0 | 22.3±10.6 | <0.01 |
| Gender | ||||||
| Male | 18.4±8.9 | 20.6±7.4 | <0.01 | 19.6±10.7 | 21.7±9.1 | <0.01 |
| Female | 18.8±14.5 | 23.3±14.2 | <0.01 | 19.7±13.6 | 23.2±12.6 | <0.01 |
| Age group | ||||||
| 15–24 years | 14.1±6.3 | 16.1±3.4 | <0.01 | 14.1±6.3 | 15.5±4.2 | <0.01 |
| 25–44 years | 17.6±8.1 | 19.3±5.8 | <0.01 | 18.3±9.0 | 20.2±6.9 | <0.01 |
| 45–60 years | 19.6±10.5 | 22.1±9.1 | <0.01 | 21.9±13.4 | 24.7±11.5 | <0.01 |
| >60 years | 20.7±13.4 | 24±12.2 | <0.01 | 26.9±18.7 | 28.2±16.5 | <0.01 |
| Education | ||||||
| No formal schooling | 18.6±11.2 | 21.2±10.4 | <0.01 | 20.2±13.6 | 23.1±12.7 | <0.01 |
| Primary school | 17.9±9.2 | 20.3±7.5 | <0.01 | 19.3±11.5 | 21.8±9.9 | <0.01 |
| Secondary school | 18.6±8.6 | 20.7±7.5 | <0.01 | 19.3±10 | 21.5±8.5 | <0.01 |
| Higher secondary school and above | 18.9±8.6 | 21.8±6.9 | <0.01 | 19.6±10.6 | 22.4±8.2 | <0.01 |
| Occupation | ||||||
| Employed | 19.2±8.2 | 20.4±7.3 | <0.01 | 19.5±10.2 | 21.4±9.1 | <0.01 |
| Self-employed and retired | 18.5±13.1 | 20.7±7.5 | <0.01 | 19.5±13.7 | 22.1±9.4 | <0.01 |
| Students and homemakers | 18.0±9.3 | 22.8±12.9 | 0.9 | 19.7±11.5 | 23.6±13.3 | <0.01 |
| Unemployed | 18.2±12.4 | 22.3±10.8 | <0.01 | 20.4±13.4 | 23.8±13.1 | <0.01 |
| Residence | ||||||
| Urban | 19.1±8.7 | 21.0±7.9 | <0.01 | 20.5±11.6 | 22.6±10.7 | <0.01 |
| Rural | 18.1±10.1 | 20.8±8.6 | <0.01 | 19.3±12.0 | 22.1±10.5 | <0.01 |
| Region | ||||||
| North | 19.2±8.7 | 21.3±8.4 | <0.01 | 20.7±10.6 | 22.2±9.0 | <0.01 |
| Central | 19.9±9.1 | 21.1±9.7 | <0.01 | 20.6±12.3 | 21.5±11.2 | <0.01 |
| East | 19.5±9.6 | 22.1±8.8 | <0.01 | 20.4±11.1 | 23.0±11.1 | <0.01 |
| Northeast | 15.8±10.5 | 19.5±7.3 | <0.01 | 16.7±11.7 | 21.5±9.0 | <0.01 |
| West | 20.5±9.1 | 22.4±9.4 | <0.01 | 20.8±11.4 | 21.9±10.2 | <0.01 |
| South | 20.1±8.9 | 21.5±8.5 | <0.01 | 23.2±13.2 | 25.2±12.8 | 0.7 |
| Using tobacco causes serious illness | ||||||
| No | 18.6±9.5 | 20.9±8.3 | <0.01 | 19.8±11.7 | 22.2±10.4 | <0.01 |
| Yes | 17.3±10.6 | 21.2±9.4 | <0.01 | 18.7±12.2 | 22.7±12.5 | <0.01 |