Prevalence of Smoking and Educational Intervention on The Hazards of Smoking Among Selected Secondary School Students in Ibadan, South Western Nigeria.

In this study, a cross-sectional design was used to evaluate the prevalence of smoking and educational intervention on the knowledge of hazards of smoking among secondary school students in Ibadan. A multi-stage stratified sampling method involving stratification of the eleven Local Government Areas (LGA) in Ibadan into two; urban and semi-urban LGA. One LGA was selected from each stratum. Two secondary schools (one private and public) were selected from each LGA. A total of 516 registered Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) students in each school were selected for the study. A questionnaire consisting of modified core Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) and additional questions for assessment of knowledge of smoking in relation to chronic diseases were administered on the students. Participants were graded as poor or good knowledge on smoking. Educational intervention on hazards of smoking was carried out in the public school with highest prevalence and poorest knowledge of smoking. Data was entered into SPSS version 23 and analyzed using frequencies, means and Chi square test to evaluate difference between knowledge of health hazard of smoking among; smokers and non-smokers as well as between private and public schools. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Prevalence of smoking among participant was 8.0%. The average age of initiation of smoking was 12.0 ± 3.9 years. Prevalence of smoking was significantly (p<0.001) higher (31, 75.6%) in male than female (10, 24.4%) and prevalence in public school (37, 90.2%) was found to be significantly (p <0.001) higher than private (4, 9.8%). Overall, 404 (78.3%) of respondents had poor knowledge of health hazard of smoking. The private schools' students showed good knowledge of the health hazards of smoking 106 (52.7%) compared to 143 (45.4%) students in public schools. There is a significant difference (p<0.05) in the level of knowledge of health hazard of smoking among smokers and non-smokers. Majority of the smokers are in public schools 37 (90.2%). The knowledge of health hazard of smoking among the students after the educational intervention showed that those with good knowledge improved by 10.6%. The study showed a high prevalence of smoking, poor knowledge of health hazard of smoking and a positive impact of an educational intervention on students' knowledge on health hazard of smoking. More awareness program and teaching of the students on health hazard of smoking is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]