Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
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Waterpipe or "argileh" is a form of smoking other than cigarettes that is currently spreading among people of all ages. The objective of the present study was to assess tobacco smoking practices (waterpipe and/or cigarette) among public and private adolescent school students in Beirut, Lebanon. A sample of 2,443 students selected from 10 private and 3 public schools with intermediate/secondary classes filled out a self-administered anonymous questionnaire that inquired about sociodemographic characteristics, and behavior about tobacco smoking. ⋯ The reasons behind the high prevalence of both types of smoking are presented and discussed. The present study calls for school-based prevention programs and other types of interventions such as tax increases, and age-restrictions on tobacco sales. More aggressive interventions to disseminate education and awareness among parents and students altogether are warranted.
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Tobacco use among college students increased substantially during the 1990s. Better understanding of college smokers is warranted to develop interventions specific to the needs of this population. We examined sociodemographic and tobacco-use characteristics associated with self-identification as a regular smoker and intentions to quit smoking among college students who smoke cigarettes. ⋯ Students who self-identified as a regular smoker smoked more cigarettes before starting college, smoked a greater number of cigarettes the prior 30 days, smoked more cigarettes per day, and were more likely to smoke within 30 min of waking up, compared with students who were current smokers but did not consider themselves regular smokers. Females, older students, and those who had decreased the amount they smoked since coming to college were more likely to want to quit "very much." Females and students in early college years were more likely to be planning to quit before graduation, as were students who had decreased the amount they smoked since coming to college. Interventions should target students who are in their early college years, given that habits prior to college, changes in smoking habits while in college, and year in college are associated with students' self-identification as a regular smoker, desire to quit smoking, or plan to quit smoking while in college.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Craving, withdrawal, and smoking urges on days immediately prior to smoking relapse.
Rates of smoking relapse remain high, despite the wide availability of cessation aids. Presumably factors such as craving, withdrawal symptoms, and smoking urges are key contributors to relapse, but empirical support for this presumption is not conclusive and is complicated by the high variability in symptoms across individuals and time, as well as by the lack of an absolute symptom threshold for response. Data were analyzed from 137 female smokers, aged 18-40 years, who completed 30 days of a protocol for a longitudinal smoking cessation trial. ⋯ Additionally, women who relapsed had higher absolute (unstandardized) symptom scores on their quit day than those who were abstinent for 30 days. These findings imply that escalation of withdrawal symptoms, craving, and smoking urges during a quit attempt may contribute to smoking relapse. Frequent symptom monitoring might be clinically important for relapse prevention.
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The U. S. Public Health Service smoking cessation clinical practice guideline is the accepted gold standard for smoking cessation treatment. ⋯ In the final logistic regression model, being married, attempting to quit in the past 12 months, and consuming more tobacco were associated with receiving assistance to quit smoking. Increased age also was associated with receiving assistance, as was greater socioeconomic advantage (higher education, higher income, health insurance). The mechanisms responsible for the disparities in delivery of tobacco dependence treatment must be investigated further.
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Differences in prevalence of tobacco use among Indian urban youth: the role of socioeconomic status.
This study examined whether the distribution of tobacco use and related psychosocial risk factors among youth in urban India vary by socioeconomic status (SES). Data were derived from a cross-sectional survey of students enrolled in the 6th and 8th grades in 32 schools in Delhi and Chennai (N = 11,642). The survey was conducted in 2004, before the implementation of a program designed to prevent and reduce tobacco use (MYTRI). ⋯ Exposure to tobacco advertising was also a strong correlate of current tobacco use for government school students but not private school students. In two large cities of India, students attending government schools are using many forms of tobacco at higher rates than private school students. The psychosocial risk profile of government school students suggests they are more vulnerable to initiation and use and to outside influences that encourage use.