Intention to start smoking and its related factors in never smoked adolescents in Tabriz, 2010

ABSTRACT

Intention to smoking is a strong predictor of future smoking behavior. The aim of this study is identifying the personal, environmental, and psychological factors relating to intention to smoking in adolescents of Tabriz city [Northwest of Iran]. Four thousand nine hundred and three [4903] students were randomly selected and completed a self-administered questionnaire about cigarette smoking, intention to smoking, and the related risk factors through multi-stage sampling. The association of independent variables with intention to smoking was evaluated using the multi-variable logistic regression model. The mean age of student was 15.7 +/- 0.73 years, and 42.9% of the samples were male. The results showed that 95.0% of students were in committer stage [students who had never smoked and were sure never start smoking]. Having general risk-taking behavior [OR 2.90; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.21-6.97], smoker in the family [OR 2.60; 95% CI 1.20-5.61], and positive attitude towards cigarette smoking [OR 1.30; 95% CI 1.18-1.43] had statistically significant association with intention to start smoking in future. Majority of non-smokers have firm decision to not start smoking in the future. Having general risk-taking behavior, smoker in the family, and positive attitude towards smoking are associated with intention to smoking in adolescents