Prevention of tobacco use in an adolescent population through a multi-personal intervention model

Introduction: The study aimed to assess the impact of a new intervention proposal involving students, teachers, and parents on smoking prevalence in secondary school adolescents.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted, in which the response to a preventive multi-personal intervention model (intervention) against tobacco consumption was compared with a standard anti-smoking activity carried out by the local government administration (control). The study was carried out during the 2017-2018 academic year. The study population included 306 students (intervention 151, control 155) with a mean age of 13.4 years. The model involved the parents, the students (aged 15-17 years), and the teachers. The primary outcome was the change in smoking status one year after the intervention.

Results: The percentage of non-smokers increased from 84.1% to 88.7% in the intervention group and remained almost unchanged among controls (89.3% vs 89.9%). After one year, there was an increase in the prevalence of non-smokers of 4.6% and a decrease in the prevalence of smokers of 4.7% among students who received the multi-personal intervention, whereas changes among controls were almost negligible (there was in fact a slight increase in the prevalence of smokers of 0.9%). The students who received the intervention smoked less or quit smoking more than those in the control group (OR=0.135; 95% CI: 0.019-0.973, p=0.047).

Conclusions: The multi-personal model developed in the study with the participation of teachers and parents focused on students was feasible, and effectively reduced the prevalence of smoking among high school adolescents.