Prevalencia y características del consumo de tabaco en adolescentes del colegio Universitario Santiago de Cali

Background. Tobacco consumption is responsible for 90 percent of lung cancer and is highly frequent in Latin America and the Caribbean. Objective. Identify the prevalence of tobacco consumption, as well as the knowledge, attitudes, exposure, mass media influence and curricular interventions regarding tobacco use among adolescents from the Cali secondary school, Colombia. Material and methods Cross-sectional study including 286 students from sixth to ninth grade selected by simple random sampling. The EMTAJOVEN survey was used to measure self-reported tobacco consumption during the last month, and study participants were classified as non-users, experimental users, current users and regular users. Proportions and their 95 percent confidence intervals were calculated, and group averages and proportions were compared using student's T or Mann-Whitney's U test and the chi-square test, respectively. Results. Prevalence of tobacco consumption was 40,5% [95% CI 34.8 to 46.4], and was not significantly different between sexes (p=0.058). Men considered that if they smoked they would have more friends and look more attractive (p<0,05 in both cases); and there was a higher report of consumption among friends in tobacco consumers (p<0.05). Tobacco users were more exposed to smoke inside and outside the household, but consumption was not higher among parents of tobacco consumers. Conclusions. Prevalence of tobacco consumption was similar to what has been reported for Chile and Europe, but higher than in other Colombian studies. The social role of adolescents is a predictor of tobacco consumption, more so than parental consumption or household exposure.