A survey of smoking prevalence and related risk factors among Zanjan students in 2011-2012

Background and Objective: The age of smoking is declining in the developed and developing countries. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of smoking stages in a sample of high school students in Zanjan and assessing its related risk factors. Materials and Methods: Among the high school students in the academic year 2011-2012, a sample size of 1,064 subjects was selected by random multistage sampling. Data was gathered through standard self administered questionnaire including questions about demographical, socio-economical, psychological characteristics, smoking behavior and familiarity with various drugs. Binary logistic regression was used for assessing relationship between smoking and related factors. Results: Out of 354 (34.2%) students who reported smoking, 242 (23.4%) were classified as experimenters and 112 (10.8%) as regular smokers. The multivariate analysis by logistic regression shows that older age (OR=1.20), risk taking behaviors (OR=1.83), familiarity with Tramadol (OR=2.19), lower self-esteem (OR=1.07), positive attitude to smoking (OR=1.15), positive thinking about smoking (OR=1.07), and having friends who smoke (OR=1.94) associated with smoking. Conclusion: Results show that the prevalence of different stages of smoking among high school students in Zanjan is high compared to the studies with similar questionnaire reported from other provinces of Iran. Familiarity with Tramadol and having smoker friend/s had high association with smoking. More attention to the school base education may be effective in improvement of smoking control among high school students.