Evaluation of the effect of a tobacco control intervention for college students under the advocate-promoting model in Zhejiang Province, China / 中华健康管理学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To evaluate the effect of a tobacco control intervention for college students under the advocate-promoting model, and to provide evidence for methods to improve smoking control and health decisions.@*Methods@#Four colleges were selected from the list of colleges that participated in a survey of college student tobacco use in Zhejiang Province in 2015, and we conducted a tobacco control intervention with them under the advocate-promoting model for two years. A total of 1 007 students were selected using a random sampling method and surveyed before intervention, and 991 students were selected using a random sampling method and surveyed after the intervention. A chi-square test was used to compare the differences between tobacco use, second-hand smoke exposure, and tobacco knowledge among students before and after the intervention.@*Results@#After the tobacco control intervention, the attempted smoking rate among students in the four colleges dropped from 34.36% to 22.30%, the current smoking rate dropped from 12.12% to 7.87%, the second-hand smoke exposure rate decreased from 75.47% to 70.53%, the difference was statistically significant (χ2=37.73, 9.99, 6.18, P<0.05). After intervention, the proportion of students who had seen tobacco advertisements in the past 30 days decreased from 60.38% to 54.4%, the proportion of students who "saw smoking scenes in video media" decreased from 25.02% to 19.58%, and the proportion of students who "learned smoking control knowledge in class" increased from 14.20% to 18.16%, the difference was statistically significant (χ2=7.08, 8.55, 5.79, P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#The advocate-promoting model of "advocacy alliance" can help colleges to establish a smoke-free campus environment and improve college students’ tobacco knowledge and reduce their attempted and current smoking rates.