Motivación para dejar de fumar en funcionarios y estudiantes universitarios ex fumadores / Motivations to quit smoking among former smoker university students and workers

Background: In Chile, 10 percent of deaths in adults are directly attributed to smoking. Aim: To identify intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to quit smoking among a group of subjects that quitted without external help. Material and methods: The motivations to quit smoking were measured using the 20 items Reasons for Quitting Scale (RFQ), in 145 ex smokers (80 students and 65 workers at The University of Concepcion). The scale identifies intrinsic motivations in the categories health and self control and extrinsic motivations in the categories immediate reinforcement and social pressure. Results: Factorial analysis with orthogonal rotation of the 20 items of the scale, suggested an optimal solution with five factors, that had a maximal impact of 0.43 and explained the motivations in up to a 66 percent of workers and 65 percent of students. The factors with the greater impact were the items of immediate reinforcement, social pressure and self control. The category health had only a 6 percent influence in the modification of smoking habits. Conclusions: The most important motivations to quit smoking in this sample were an immediate reinforcement, social pressure and self control. The analysis of motivations will help to orient smoking cessation programs

Tabaquismo en académicos, no académicos y estudiantes de la Universidad de Concepción / Prevalence of smoking among academic, non-academic workers and students of the Universidad de Concepción

Background: Effective smoking cessation campaigns require as baseline, precise estimations of smoking habits in different populations. Aim: To assess the prevalence of smoking in academic, non-academics workers and student of the University of Concepción. Material and methods: In a random and stratified sample of 272 workers (including academics) and 1146 students, a previously validated, self administered questionnaire about smoking was applied. Daily smoking was defined as smoking seven or more cigarettes per week and occasional smoking as smoking less than seven cigarettes per week. Results: The prevalence of smoking was 23 percent among academics, 34 percent among non-academic workers and 44 percent among students. Nineteen percent of men and 16 percent of women were occasional smokers; 23 percent of men and 25 percent of women were daily smokers. Students started smoking at 15 ñ 2 years old and workers did so at 18 ñ 3 years old. The grater influence about smoking came from parents. Workers from the administrative services and from the natural sciences faculty had the higher prevalence of the habit. The total annual cost of smoking was $33,000,000 (US$62,000). Conclusions: The prevalence of smoking at the University of Concepción is higher among students than workers. Quitting programs are urgently needed

Tabaquismo, alcohol y drogas en estudiantes recién ingresados a la Universidad de Concepción / Smoking, alcohol and drugs consumption in just enrolled students at Universidad de Concepción, Chile

La asociación fumar tabaco, beber alcohol y consumir drogas es frecuente en los adolescentes. Por esta razón estudiamos a 1.192 estudiantes recién ingresados a la Universidad de Concepción. El 40, 1 por ciento fumaba y la asociación con consumo de alcohol era 9,6 por ciento y de drogas 6,5 por ciento; mientras que en los estudiantes no fumadores era de 3,1 por ciento y 1,3 por ciento respectivamente. Los estudiantes que bebían alcohol fumaban 67,7 por ciento y los que consumían drogas 70 por ciento; mientras que la prevalencia de fumadores en los que no bebían alcohol era de 38,4 y los que no consumían drogas era de 39,1 por ciento. La asociación de consumo de alcohol y drogas fue de 3,8 por ciento en los estudiantes fumadores y 0,2 por ciento en los estudiantes no fumadores. Estos antecedentes hacen necesario implementar un programa de prevención del tabaquismo, alcohol y drogas a nivel pre-escolar y escolar; y a nivel superior otorgar oportunidades de tratamientos para dejar de fumar, beber y abandonar el consumo de drogas

Una estrategia de prevención primaria del tabaquismo en la comunidad escolar de Concepción / A strategy in smoking primary prevention in a school community in Concepción

Se aplicó un programa educativo antitabáquico basado en las teorías de actitud y aprendizaje en 714 escolares de V y VI año de enseñanza básica en escuelas municipalizadas de la Comuna de Concepción. Se capacitó a los profesores de Ciencias Naturales en talleres de perfeccionamiento. Este contenido y la metodología lograron el objetivo de motivar a los profesores y desarrollar o mantener en los escolares una actitud adversa al hábito de fumar. La investigación, de carácter experimental, mostró una diferencia significativa entre los estadígrafos alcanzados por el grupo experimental en comparación con el grupo control