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Effects of a school tobacco policy on student smoking and snus use

Källmén, Håkan ; Wennberg, Peter ; Sohlberg, Tove and Larsson, Matz LU (2020) In Health Behavior and Policy Review 7(4). p.358-365
Abstract

Objective: A school tobacco policy (STP) commonly is used to reduce smoking among adoles-cents, but the effectiveness of such programs is unclear. We evaluated the impact of an STP on tobacco use in 4 schools. Methods: The study included 4 intervention and 4 control schools, located in the inner city of Stockholm, Sweden. Schools self-selected for assignment to either an intervention program or a comparison group. In total, the study was comprised of 2671 students in grades 9 and 11, ages 15 to 18, and 1998 students (75%) responded to the questionnaire. We used a repeated cross-sectional design with assessment of tobacco use prevalence before im-plementation of the STP in 2016 and after 2 years under the program, in 2018. Results: Two... (More)

Objective: A school tobacco policy (STP) commonly is used to reduce smoking among adoles-cents, but the effectiveness of such programs is unclear. We evaluated the impact of an STP on tobacco use in 4 schools. Methods: The study included 4 intervention and 4 control schools, located in the inner city of Stockholm, Sweden. Schools self-selected for assignment to either an intervention program or a comparison group. In total, the study was comprised of 2671 students in grades 9 and 11, ages 15 to 18, and 1998 students (75%) responded to the questionnaire. We used a repeated cross-sectional design with assessment of tobacco use prevalence before im-plementation of the STP in 2016 and after 2 years under the program, in 2018. Results: Two years after the STP, the intervention school in grade 9 showed a lower prevalence (13.5% vs 1.6%) in the proportion of students who reported smoking (χ2 = 4.54; p < .05) whereas the proportion reporting snus use was practically unchanged. We found no statistically significant impact of the STP for grade 11. Conclusions: The results are promising with regard to smoking, when the STP is implemented in early adolescence.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Health communication, Public health, School health, Smoking, Snus use, Tobacco use and control
in
Health Behavior and Policy Review
volume
7
issue
4
pages
8 pages
publisher
Paris Scholar Publishing, Ltd.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85091524748
ISSN
2326-4403
DOI
10.14485/HBPR.7.4.9
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
720ac2e7-17e3-464f-98b2-e3a971374bfc
date added to LUP
2020-11-20 14:43:12
date last changed
2024-01-02 22:55:26
@article{720ac2e7-17e3-464f-98b2-e3a971374bfc,
  abstract     = {{<p>Objective: A school tobacco policy (STP) commonly is used to reduce smoking among adoles-cents, but the effectiveness of such programs is unclear. We evaluated the impact of an STP on tobacco use in 4 schools. Methods: The study included 4 intervention and 4 control schools, located in the inner city of Stockholm, Sweden. Schools self-selected for assignment to either an intervention program or a comparison group. In total, the study was comprised of 2671 students in grades 9 and 11, ages 15 to 18, and 1998 students (75%) responded to the questionnaire. We used a repeated cross-sectional design with assessment of tobacco use prevalence before im-plementation of the STP in 2016 and after 2 years under the program, in 2018. Results: Two years after the STP, the intervention school in grade 9 showed a lower prevalence (13.5% vs 1.6%) in the proportion of students who reported smoking (χ<sup>2</sup> = 4.54; p &lt; .05) whereas the proportion reporting snus use was practically unchanged. We found no statistically significant impact of the STP for grade 11. Conclusions: The results are promising with regard to smoking, when the STP is implemented in early adolescence.</p>}},
  author       = {{Källmén, Håkan and Wennberg, Peter and Sohlberg, Tove and Larsson, Matz}},
  issn         = {{2326-4403}},
  keywords     = {{Health communication; Public health; School health; Smoking; Snus use; Tobacco use and control}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{358--365}},
  publisher    = {{Paris Scholar Publishing, Ltd.}},
  series       = {{Health Behavior and Policy Review}},
  title        = {{Effects of a school tobacco policy on student smoking and snus use}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.14485/HBPR.7.4.9}},
  doi          = {{10.14485/HBPR.7.4.9}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}