Smoking among high school adolescents in Karachi, Pakistan
Open Access
- 11 March 2004
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in International Journal of Epidemiology
- Vol. 33 (3) , 613-614
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyh128
Abstract
Sirs—Tobacco use is the single most important preventable cause of disease and causes 3.5 million premature deaths worldwide. Tobacco use primarily begins in early adolescence, reportedly before the time of high school graduation.1 Factors that commonly play a role in initiation of smoking among adolescents include social factors, smoking among family members, peers, teachers, psychological relaxation, pleasure, and economic factors.2,3 In this communication we report the prevalence of and factors associated with smoking among adolescents in inner city Karachi, Pakistan. Self-reported smoking status was assessed based on a 30-day prevalence of cigarette smoking (whether or not one had smoked a cigarette in the past 30 days).4 A two-stage cluster sample stratified by school type was used. We recruited 772 male secondary school students from 33 schools (17 public and 16 private) in inner city Karachi. A structured questionnaire was administered by trained data collectors.Keywords
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