title: Differences in the effects of anti-tobacco health education programme in the areas of knowledge, attitude and behaviour, with respect to nicotinism among boys and girls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health education used for increasing the effectiveness of intervention actions should cover a number of factors which exert an effect on learning.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Recognition of the extent to which gender may determine the effects of an anti-tobacco health education programme.
  
  
  METHODS
  The intervention study was undertaken in May 2007, and covered 859 first-year schoolchildren in Białystok. The sample was selected by means of two-stage stratified sampling with consideration of two groups: an intervention group and a control group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the group of girls, the 2-year educational programme resulted in an increase in knowledge concerning the negative effects of cigarette smoking by 21%, and being familiar with anti-tobacco actions and campaigns carried out in Poland by 24.5%. Among boys, an increase was observed only with respect to the knowledge of anti-tobacco actions and campaigns - by 10.7%. Considering the attitudes of girls after the completion of the programme, changes were noted with respect to three from among the six elements analyzed. However, among boys, after completion of the project, no changes were noted in any of the analyzed elements of attitude. In girls who participated in the anti-nicotine programme, the percentage of smokers did not increase, while an increase in this percentage was observed among girls of the control group and boys in both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different effects of the 2-year anti-tobacco programme obtained in the area of knowledge, attitude and behaviour should constitute a premise for the modification of educational programmes from the aspect of the variety of methods, techniques and instruments which would be adequate for adolescents' predispositions resulting also from their gender.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Medical University of Bialystok, Poland. mkanicka@umb.edu.pl
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanicka
authors.forename: Bogusław
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Poniatowski
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szpak
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Owoc
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011044:Poland; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology