Abstract 1364: Evaluation of tobacco-free policy at University of Guam.

Abstract

Abstract Background Smoking is one of the biggest avoidable causes of mortality on Guam. Lung cancer accounted for an estimated 17.2% of new cancer cases, and 28.6% of cancer deaths (2003-2007). Smoking prevalence both for adults and youth remains high on Guam, about 25.8% (BRFSS, 2010), and 12.6% (YRBR, 2011), respectively. Recognizing the destructive role of tobacco on health, University of Guam (UOG) introduced tobacco-free policy on August 1, 2006. This paper will evaluate students’ tobacco use and attitudes towards the policy and its implementation. Methods Seventeen courses were randomly sampled from the list of all courses offered, and all students in the courses selected were asked to participate in 23-question survey. The sample size was 279 students which are about 8% of all UOG students. The survey data was collected from October, 16 to October, 30, 2012. Results The demographics of the respondents closely matched the distribution of the demographics of the whole student population. About 12% of the respondents were current smokers, 4% reported using other tobacco products, and 5% reported chewing betel nuts. Most students (81%) said they were aware of the tobacco-free policy on the campus, however 71% of students reported reading the policy for the first time during the survey. Seventeen percent of students never read the policy before and were not aware of it. Big proportion of students (about 13%) admitted to using tobacco products on campus in the past 6 months, majority of them (88%) used cigarettes. As a result, 58% of students reported being close enough to someone who was smoking on campus to smell the smoke during the past 30 days. The survey results showed significant difference between smokers and nonsmokers in attitudes toward tobacco-free policy and its implementation. Only 31.25% students who smoke everyday support 100% tobacco-free environment whereas 84.12% of nonsmokers support it. Ninety four percent of smokers and 68% of nonsmokers either agreed or strongly agreed that UOG should provide the designated smoking areas. Significantly smaller proportion of current smokers than nonsmokers (55.9% and 78.1% respectively, p-value = 0.000) feels that UOG should provide resources for smoking prevention and cessation. Similarly, significantly smaller proportion of current smokers than nonsmokers (41.2% and 84.1% respectively, p-value = 0.000) feels that UOG should place increased emphasis on enforcement and disciplinary action for non-compliance. Overwhelming majority of students (81%) was not aware of Guam Tobacco Free Quit Line. Conclusions, Future Research The visibility and communication of the policy could be improved at UOG. The data collected can be used as a baseline data for future research. By conducting a similar survey in the following years, we will be able track any changes in students’ smoking rates and changes in attitudes. Citation Format: Grazyna Badowski, Johnny Silbanuez, Annette David, Angelina Mummert, Helen Whippy. Evaluation of tobacco-free policy at University of Guam. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1364. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1364