title: Prevalence and factors associated with current smoking among high school adolescents in Karachi, Pakistan.
abstract: Our objective was to estimate the prevalence and evaluate factors associated with smoking among high school adolescents in Karachi, Pakistan. A school-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted in three towns in Karachi, namely, Gadap Town, Bin-Qasim Town and Malir Town, from January through May 2003. Two-stage cluster sampling stratified by school type was employed to select schools and students. We recruited and interviewed 772 male students regarding socio-demographic factors, smoking history of students, their families/friends, number of siblings, and place of residence. The prevalence of smoking (30 days) among adolescents was 13.7%. Final multiple logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for age, ethnicity, and place of residence, being a student at a government school (OR=1.6; 95% Cl: 1.0-2.7), parental smoking (OR = 1.7; 95% Cl: 1.1-2.8), uncle smoking (OR = 1.7; 95% Cl: 1.2-2.8), peer smoking (OR = 6.2; 95% Cl: 3.9-9.9), and spending leisure time outside home (OR = 3.9; 95% Cl 1.2-13.2) were significantly associated with adolescent smoking.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Stadium Road, PO Box 3500, Karachi-74800, Pakistan. shafquat.rozi@aku.edu
authors.forename: Shafquat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rozi
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.forename: Sajid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Javaid
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010379:Peer Group; D015995:Prevalence; D017149:Private Sector; D017150:Public Sector; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools / Q000145:classification; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires