Prevention of tobacco use in an adolescent population through a multi-personal intervention model

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The study aimed to assess the impact of a new intervention proposal involving students, teachers, and parents on smoking prevalence in secondary school adolescents. METHODS A quasi-experimental study was conducted, in which the response to a preventive multi-personal intervention model (intervention) against tobacco consumption was compared with a standard anti-smoking activity carried out by the local government administration (control). The study was carried out during the 2017–2018 academic year. The study population included 306 students (intervention 151, control 155) with a mean age of 13.4 years. The model involved the parents, the students (aged 15–17 years), and the teachers. The primary outcome was the change in smoking status one year after the intervention. RESULTS The percentage of non-smokers increased from 84.1% to 88.7% in the intervention group and remained almost unchanged among controls (89.3% vs 89.9%). After one year, there was an increase in the prevalence of non-smokers of 4.6% and a decrease in the prevalence of smokers of 4.7% among students who received the multi-personal intervention, whereas changes among controls were almost negligible (there was in fact a slight increase in the prevalence of smokers of 0.9%). The students who received the intervention smoked less or quit smoking more than those in the control group (OR=0.135; 95% CI: 0.019–0.973, p=0.047). CONCLUSIONS The multi-personal model developed in the study with the participation of teachers and parents focused on students was feasible, and effectively reduced the prevalence of smoking among high school adolescents.