Tobacco use among 11-16 years old students of Sousse Tunisia in 2020: a cross sectional study with the GYTS method
Introduction Despite tobacco control prevention programs, many adolescents start smoking at school age. The main objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of smoking, secondhand smoke exposure, and susceptibility to smoking among middle-school students aged 11–16 years, using the Global...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
European Publishing
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Population Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.populationmedicine.eu/Tobacco-use-among-11-16-years-old-students-of-Sousse-Tunisia-in-2020-a-cross-sectional,172503,0,2.html |
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| Summary: | Introduction
Despite tobacco control prevention programs,
many adolescents start smoking at school age. The main
objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of
smoking, secondhand smoke exposure, and susceptibility to
smoking among middle-school students aged 11–16 years,
using the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), in Sousse,
Tunisia, 2020.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 306
students aged 11–16 years enrolled in 12 classes from 2
public middle schools in Sousse, Tunisia, during the school
year 2020–2021. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS)
self-administered questionnaire on smoking was used to
assess their smoking habits.
Results
In total, 35.3% of students reported that they had
tried cigarettes in the past, while 17.6% reported currently
being cigarette smokers, with a higher prevalence among
boys (30.6%) than in girls (7.6%) (p<0.001). Of the
students, 59.2% had been exposed to secondhand smoke
at home and 66% in public places. Of the current cigarette
smokers, 47.2% usually purchased their cigarettes in a
store or market, and 34.5 % had not been prevented from
purchasing them despite their age. Overall, more than half
(54%) of current cigarette smokers wanted to stop smoking
immediately, and 66.7% had tried to quit smoking.
Conclusions
The prevalence of smoking among adolescents
in the study is high. The results suggest that adolescents have
relatively easy access to cigarettes and are regularly exposed
to secondhand smoke in public places. Implementing
measures to stop tobacco use and its new forms of
consumption among adolescents is imperative. |
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| ISSN: | 2654-1459 |