Smoking and its related factors among adolescents aged 13–17 years: Data from 13 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Although smoking is a major health problem, there is limited research about smoking in adolescence and related factors in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR).

Method: This study was conducted on 43026 adolescents aged 13–17 years in 13 countries of the EMR. We used the data collected by the Global School-based Student Health Survey. In order to investigate factors affecting smoking, univariate and multivariate logistic models with 95% confidence limits were used.

Results: The overall prevalence of smoking was 19.37%; 28.2% and 10.7% among boys and girls, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, the main predictors of cigarette smoking were gender (male), passive smoking, truancy, being bullied, insomnia, loneliness, parental smoking, higher physical fight, and hunger. By contrast, parental supervision, parental support, and parental awareness were significantly related to a lower risk of smoking.

Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of youth smoking in EMR and its related factors, it is suggested that health education and intervention programs for the enhancement of knowledge regarding the hazards of smoking should be continued in schools.

KEYWORDS:

• Smoking
• adolescents
• GSHS
• EMR

Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank the World Health Organization and US Centers for Disease Control for making the GSHS dataset available for free download on their website. The present paper was extracted from the MSc thesis in Epidemiology written by R. Shadmehr and was approved by Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences.