Changes in tobacco habits. A prospective longitudinal study of tobacco habits among boys who play ice hockey.
The aim of the investigation was to follow up tobacco habits and actual sporting activities among the boys who participated in an earlier study by the authors, and to examine whether knowledge of the harmful effects of tobacco and tobacco behaviour patterns and/or the choice of tobacco had changed amongst the participants. The study was conducted 3 years after the original study. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Of the 183 boys in the age group 15-22 years who participated in the study, 26.8% were tobacco users: 19.7% only snuff users, 6.0% both snuff users and smokers and 1.1% smokers. Compared with the original study, a further 16.4% of the boys had started to use tobacco. The use of tobacco increased in all age groups except amongst 19-year-olds where tobacco use was unchanged. The age group 17-22 years included boys who were both snuff users and smokers. An increase in tobacco use between the ages of 17 and 19 years could be shown compared with the original study, for equivalent age groups. Among the 132 boys who still played ice hockey, 25.8% were tobacco users: 18.2% only snuff users, 6.1% both snuff users and smokers and 1.5% smokers. A statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) could be shown between boys who used snuff and non-users depending on whether the boys participated in another sport besides ice hockey. Snuff usage was thus not as widespread among boys who participated in other sporting activities. The increase in tobacco use amongst the boys in the study showed that the various preventive initiatives which society so far has offered have been inadequate. Hence, the preventive measures need to be evaluated and developed to prevent tobacco habits from becoming established. The results of this and previous studies show that the environment in which ice hockey is practiced can, in itself, constitute a risk for tobacco usage becoming established among ice-hockey-playing adolescents.
Rolandsson
Margot
M
Division for Health and Caring Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden. margot.rolandsson@kau.se
Hugoson
Anders
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006688:Hockey / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D014030:Tobacco, Smokeless