Prevalence and Determinants of Current Smoking and Intention to Smoke among Secondary School Students: A Cross-Sectional Survey among Han and Tujia Nationalities in China

Xianglong Xu, Dengyuan Liu, Manoj Sharma and Yong Zhao
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Xianglong Xu: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Dengyuan Liu: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Manoj Sharma: Department of Behavioral and Environmental Health, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39213, USA
Yong Zhao: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: Objectives: This study examined the patterns and determinants of current smoking and intention to smoke among secondary school students of Han and Tujia nationalities in China. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in three regions, namely, Chongqing, Liaocheng, and Tianjin, of China in 2015. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: Of the total subjects ( n = 1805), 78.9% were ethnic Han and 21.1% were ethnic Tujia. Overall 9.4% (Han: 7.7%; Tujia: 15.5%) secondary school students were smokers and 37.28% smoked more than once per day. Of the non-smoker students ( n = 1636), 17.4% have an intention to smoke. A total of 81.1% of students reportedly had never been taught throughout school about smoking or tobacco prevention. When compared to the students who were taught in the school about smoking or tobacco prevention (18.90%) students who were never taught were more likely to smoke (OR = 2.39; 95% CI = 1.14–5.01). As compared to Han nationality students who were from Tujia nationality were more likely to smoke (OR = 2.76; 95% CI = 1.88–4.04) and were more likely to have a higher frequency of smoking (95% CI (0.88, 0.88), p = 0.010). Non-smokers who were high school students (OR = 4.29; 95% CI = 2.12–8.66), whose academic performance were situated in the last 25% (OR = 2.23; 95% CI = 1.48–3.34) and lower than 50% (OR = 1.50; 95% CI = 1.02–2.20) were more likely to have an intention of smoking. Conclusions: About one in ten secondary school students was a smoker, one in three smokers smoked more than one time per day, and a quarter of non-smokers had an intention of smoking in China. Smoking rate was higher among students from Tujia than the Han nationality. This study provided some important information for future tobacco control programs among secondary school students in the ethnic minority autonomous region and minority settlements in a multi-ethnic country.

Keywords: smoking; intention to smoke; frequency of smoking; Han nationalities; Tujia nationalities; secondary school students; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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