Prevalence of tobacco use and its association with perception of health among secondary and high school students in Damavand and Pakdasht districts

Tobacco use mainly begins since adolescence. According to susceptibility of adolescents to high risk behavior such as tobacco use, this study designed to evaluate prevalence and some determinants of tobacco use among secondary and high school students in Pakdasht and Damavand cities. We carried out an analytic cross-sectional study among secondary and high school students by using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was completed by 2618 eligible students aged 13 and 15 years. History and current use of tobacco and also their feeling about their health in a spectrum from excellent to bad were evaluated. 26.1% of boys and 21.1% of girls had history of tobacco use (p=0.003). Mean age (±standard deviation) at which smoking started was 12.3±2.69 and 12.7±2.01 for boys and girls, respectively. 13.3% of secondary school and 13.7% of high school students were tobacco users at the time of study. Mean daily consumption of tobacco was 3.4 and 2.2 percent among secondary and high school students, respectively. No-users of tobacco had the better feeling of health than tobacco users (p=0.0005). This study showed higher prevalence of tobacco use among secondary school than high school students. According to beginning of tobacco use before high school in majority of students, early prevention programs should be performed in secondary school students.