[Social factors associated with the daily cigarette smoking among middle-school student adolescents in Bucaramanga, Colombia].
BACKGROUND
Daily cigarette smoking is associated with high morbidity and mortality in adults. This pattern of tobacco use is established during the early adolescence. Among adolescents, daily cigarette smoking is a strong predictor of illegal, addictive substance use. The prevalence of daily cigarette smoking is not known in Colombian adolescent middle-school students.


OBJECTIVE
To assess smoking prevalence, daily cigarette smoking and associated factors among middle school-students in Bucaramanga, northeast Colombia.


METHODS
An anonymous questionnaire concerning illegal and legal substance use was administered to a random sample of 2,586 students.


RESULTS
The group mean age was 13.0 years; 54.9% was male; 32.0% was in sixth grade, 31.7% in seventh, 25.2% in eighth and 11.1% in ninth grade, with 67.1% enrolled in public schools. The prevalence of daily cigarette smoking lasting the month prior to the questionnaire was 3.8% (95% CI 2.7-4.9). Logistic regression showed a significant association between being the best friend of a smoker or a drinker of alcohol (OR=3.71; 95% CI 1.71-8.04), having low academic performance perception (OR=3.83; 95% CI 1.0-14.2), and being older age (OR=1.4; 95% CI 1.2-1.8).


CONCLUSIONS
These data demonstrated that one in 26 middle-school student adolescents from Bucaramanga is an everyday smoker. The most important associated factor was being the best friend of a smoker or a drinker of alcohol.
Martínez
Jorge Arturo
JA
Grupo de Neuropsiquiatría, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga, Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia.
Amaya
Walter
W
Campillo
Horacio Alfredo
HA
Campo
Adalberto
A
Díaz
Luis Alfonso
LA
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002648:Child; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires