Factors Associated With Smoking Intentions Among Chinese College Students

Tobacco use and behaviour among South African adolescents and young adults: systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

Tobacco use, particularly the initiation of smoking during adolescence and young adulthood, represents a significant public health concern in South Africa. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive review of published literature about tobacco use and behaviour among adolescents and young adults and to determine an aggregated prevalence estimate of tobacco use within this demographic.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Google Scholar were searched from 1 January 2000 through 31 October 2023.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Studies were eligible for inclusion if they were cross-sectional studies conducted in South Africa and measured the prevalence and determinants of tobacco use among adolescents and young adults aged 12-24 years.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Two reviewers independently extracted information for each article and saved it into an Excel spreadsheet. Risk of bias analysis was conducted using the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for non-randomised studies. The methodology quality of each selected study was evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist. The heterogeneity of prevalence estimates was assessed using I2 statistic (random-effects DerSimonian-Laid approach).

RESULTS

Out of 73 articles identified, 12 articles were included in the analysis. The pooled prevalence of current tobacco use among South African adolescents and young adults was estimated to be 22%. The pooled prevalence of tobacco use among school dropouts, university students and secondary school learners was 51%, 20% and 16%, respectively. Stratifying using gender, boys (26%) were two times more likely to use tobacco than girls (13%).

CONCLUSION

The elevated occurrence of tobacco usage among South African adolescents and young adults is a relevant public health concern. There is a need for more population-based prevalence studies at a national level to estimate the burden of tobacco use in South Africa.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42023428369.

Prevalence and Differences of Depression, Anxiety, and Substance Use Between Chinese College-Age Students Studying in China and America During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Introduction

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) swept the globe and harmfully influenced the mental health and behaviors of the college student population. This study aims to examine the prevalence and difference of mental health and the substance use problems of the Chinese college-age students studying in China and America (CSA) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

One thousand five hundred four students participated in this study. A total of 42.12% of students are enrolled in Chinese colleges, and 57.78% of students are enrolled in American colleges, aged 17-23 years (x ¯ ± s = 19.90 ± 1.50). Binary logistic regression and independent t-test were used in this study to find the predictor variables and association among mental health, substance use problems, and student population.

Results

The two student groups had a statistical difference in General Anxiety Disorder-7 scale, alcohol, medicines, drinks, drugs and cigarettes (p < 0.01). The students suffering depression problems from the two groups have statistical significance with drinks (odds ratio = 0.89, 95% confidence interval = 0.81-0.97, p < 0.05; odds ratio = 1.11, 95% confidence interval = 1.04-1.19, p < 0.01). CSA experiencing anxiety problem had a significant association with alcohol, drinks, cigarette, and desserts (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

This is the first cross-sectional study focusing on the comparison of the Chinese college-age students' mental health and substance use problems who are studying in China and America during the pandemic. Our study revealed severe mental health and substance use problems in both student groups, particularly in the CSA during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of our study also highlight the evidence to find more interventions and preventions to solve the different mental health and substance use problems for college students.

Comparison and determination of factors associated with smoking status, smoking knowledge, attitude and practice (S-KAP) between smoke-free and non-smoke-free campuses in public universities in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

We compared the smoking prevalence, smoking knowledge, attitudes and practices (S-KAP) between smoke-free campuses (SFCs) and non-SFCs (NSFCs) and determined the associated factors of smoking status and S-KAP.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTINGS

The research was conducted in four public universities in Malaysia; two SFCs and two NSFCs.

PARTICIPANTS

Students and staff from SFCs (n=1063) and NSFCs (n=1040).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Compared the smoking prevalence, S-KAP between SFCs and NSFCs and determined the associated factors.

RESULTS

The prevalence of smokers among the SFC and NSFC respondents was 5.2% and 6.7%, respectively. University type and smoking attitude were significantly related (p=0.02). At the SFCs, the factors associated with becoming a smoker were male gender (p<0.001), monthly income ≥RM3000 (p=0.02), positive smoking attitude (p=0.003) and positive smoking practice (p<0.001); at NSFCs, the associated factors were male gender (p<0.001), low smoking knowledge (p=0.004), positive smoking attitude (p=0.001) and practice (p<0.001). The factors associated with good smoking knowledge were female gender (SFCs: p=0.001; NSFCs: p=0.004), and monthly income ≥RM3000 (NSFCs: p=0.02). Male respondents were likely to have positive smoking attitudes (SFCs: p<0.001; NSFCs: p<0.001) and negative smoking practices (SFCs: p<0.001; NSFCs: p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Overall, smoking prevalence, knowledge and practice were not much different between SFCs and NSFCs. However, there was a significant relationship between university type and smoking attitude due to the existence of the SFC policy likely rendering smoking a less acceptable social norm. Continual education programmes on smoking harms and smoking cessation strategies are highly recommended to aid the SFC policy in preventing secondhand smoke in universities.

Determining correlates of the average number of cigarette smoking among college students using count regression models

College students, as a large part of young adults, are a vulnerable group to several risky behaviors including smoking and drug abuse. This study aimed to utilize and to compare count regression models to identify correlates of cigarette smoking among college students. This was a cross-sectional study conducted on students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. The Poisson, negative binomial, generalized Poisson, exponentiated-exponential geometric regression models and their zero-inflated counterparts were fitted and compared using the Vuong test (α = 0.05). A number of 1258 students participated in this study. The majority of students were female (60.8%) and their average age was 23 years. Most of the students were non-smokers (84.6%). Negative binomial regression was selected as the most appropriate model for analyzing the data (comparable fit and simpler interpretation). The significant correlates of the number of cigarettes smoked per day included gender (male: incident-rate-ratio (IRR = 9.21), birth order (Forth: IRR = 1.99), experiencing a break-up (IRR = 2.11), extramarital sex (heterosexual (IRR = 2.59), homosexual (IRR = 3.13) vs. none), and drug abuse (IRR = 5.99). Our findings revealed that several high-risk behaviors were associated with the intensity of smoking, suggesting that these behaviors should be considered in smoking cessation intervention programs for college students.