Assessment of Frequency of Cigarette Smoking Behavior Among High School Students and Their Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviors About Cigarette Smoking

Abstract

Aim: In our study, we wanted to evaluate the frequency of smoking in high school students, the related factors and the knowledge, attitude and behaviors of students about smoking. Material and Methods: High school students between the ages of 14-18 were included in the study. The data were gathered using the questionnaire method. The questions were about the sociodemographic characteristics of the students, their smoking status, whether there are individuals who smoke in the family, the knowledge level of the students about the harms of smoking, and their attitudes towards smoking. Results: The study was conducted with a total of 406 students, 187 (46.1%) girls and 219 (53.9%) boys. 16.3% of the student’s smoke, 83.7% do not smoke, and 3% quitted smoking. As a result of paired comparisons; the smoking rate of students of the 9th grade was found to be significantly lower than the 10th, 11th and 12th grade (p=0.039; p=0.001; p<0.001). The smoking rate of 12th grade students was found to be statistically significantly higher than the 10th and 11th grades (p=0.001; p=0.024). 39.4% of the students started smoking due to social factors and 34.8% because of pleasure. The relationship between smoking status of the students and male gender, father’s education status, smoking status of siblings and smoking status of close friends were found to be statistically significant (p<0.001, p=0.017, p<0.001 and p<0.001 respectively). Conclusion: It was found in our study that a certain percentage of high school students smoke and these rates increase from the 1st to the 4th grade.