Background:
Tobacco use and exposure has been demonstrated to affect nearly all organs of the body. The Kenya Global Adult Tobacco Survey estimates that fifteen percent of men aged 15 and above and less than one percent of women currently smoke tobacco. The aim of the study was to determine the proportion of tobacco related illnesses (TRI) and pattern of tobacco consumption among the patients hospitalized at Kenyatta National Hospital.

Methods:
A cross sectional study was conducted between January-June 2014 among adult patients. A TRI included; cancers (Oral, Pharyngeal, Oseophegeal, Colon, Rectal, Laryngeal, and lung and cervical), myocardial infarction, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD. Purposive sampling was used. An interviewer administered pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data.

Results:
Out of the 519 patients with TRI 442 (85%) were interviewed. Majority of the respondents were female (50.7%). Thirteen percent of the respondents were current smokers while 26% reported to be former smokers. Majority of the patients (76.5%) were diagnosed with cancer, 14.9% had stroke, 5.4% had COPD and 3.2% had Myocardial Infarction. Nearly half of all COPD patients had never smoked. Among the cancer cases, 12.4% and 27.4% were current and former tobacco smokers respectively. Thirty two percent of patients with a diagnosis of stroke were either current or former smokers. More than half of patients with MI had a history of smoking. Average number of cigarettes smoked per day was 9.1.

Conclusions:
Tobacco use and exposure remains a significant contributor to ill health in the Country. Magnitude of TRI provides important information on the need to institute structured initiatives such as cessation services and public health education to reduce this avoidable burden.