Factors Related to Initiation of Cigarette Smoking Behavior among Secondary School Student in Nakhon Pathom Province

Abstract

Smoking is one of the most important public health concerns. In Thailand, an age of new smoker is more likely to decreasing and cigarette smoking among youth still high prevalence. This study aimed to explore a relationship between demographic factors (gender, age, and study class level), social factors (access to cigarette advertising, advertising promotion and giving cigarette sample) and initiation of cigarette smoking behaviors among students in secondary school. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 747 students in Nakhon Pathom province. The subjects recruited with a multistage sampling method from student, age 15-19 years old, in seven secondary schools in all area of the province. The data was collected by administrative questionnaire during December 2016. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-20 software, by descriptive statistic and chi-square. Results revealed that the prevalence of initiation of cigarette smoking was 19.8%, 11.8% for male and 8.0% for female. Factors significant related to initiation of cigarette smoking included gender (χ² = 17.165, p<0.001), age (χ² = 9.799, p=0.007), study class level (χ² = 7.143, p=0.008), access to cigarette advertising by community radio (χ² = 10.581, p=0.014), by community newspaper (χ² = 13.290, p=0.004), by community television (χ² = 20.547, p<0.001), cigarette advertising promotion (χ² = 35.784, p<0.001), and giving cigarette sample (χ² = 29.901, p<0.001). The results suggest that there were many factors influencing initiation of cigarette smoking among students which will be manipulated in any intervention.