OBJECTIVE: To determine factors associated with smoking among university students in Cameroon. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey was carried out using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire among a convenience sample of 3000 students from three universities (the Université des Montagnes, and the Universities of Douala and Yaounde 1) in Cameroon; 190 students (5.9%) did not consent to the survey. Socio-demographic characteristics and smoking trends were recorded. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for smoking. RESULTS: Of the students selected, 1862 (62%) were male. The mean age was 23.3 years. We found that 30.1% of students had tried smoking and that 5.6% (n = 168) reported regular smoking. Smoking prevalence among male and female students was respectively 9.5% and 1%. The mean age of smokers was 24.1 years. Only 12.5% of regular smokers were nicotine-dependent. Factors motivating smoking were pleasure, imitation, snobbery and curiosity. In the multivariate analysis, smoking was statistically associated with age, male sex, exposure to friends who smoke and living with smokers. CONCLUSION: Although the prevalence of smoking found in our study was low, effective tobacco control programmes targeting factors such as age, male sex and peer influence should be implemented in universities. Future studies are needed to evaluate the impact of these interventions.
OBJECTIVE: To determine factors associated with smoking among university students in Cameroon. DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey was carried out using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire among a convenience sample of 3000 students from three universities (the Université des Montagnes, and the Universities of Douala and Yaounde 1) in Cameroon; 190 students (5.9%) did not consent to the survey. Socio-demographic characteristics and smoking trends were recorded. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for smoking. RESULTS: Of the students selected, 1862 (62%) were male. The mean age was 23.3 years. We found that 30.1% of students had tried smoking and that 5.6% (n = 168) reported regular smoking. Smoking prevalence among male and female students was respectively 9.5% and 1%. The mean age of smokers was 24.1 years. Only 12.5% of regular smokers were nicotine-dependent. Factors motivating smoking were pleasure, imitation, snobbery and curiosity. In the multivariate analysis, smoking was statistically associated with age, male sex, exposure to friends who smoke and living with smokers. CONCLUSION: Although the prevalence of smoking found in our study was low, effective tobacco control programmes targeting factors such as age, male sex and peer influence should be implemented in universities. Future studies are needed to evaluate the impact of these interventions.
Authors: Bertrand Hugo Mbatchou Ngahane; Emmanuel Afane Ze; Cyrille Chebu; Njankouo Yacouba Mapoure; Elvis Temfack; Malea Nganda; Namme Henry Luma Journal: Int J Occup Environ Health Date: 2014-11-10
Authors: Hossein Ebrahimi; Mohammad Hasan Sahebihagh; Fazlollah Ghofranipour; Jafar Sadegh Tabrizi Journal: Int J Community Based Nurs Midwifery Date: 2014-10
Authors: Clarisse Mapa-Tassou; Cecile Rénée Bonono; Felix Assah; Jennifer Wisdom; Pamela A Juma; Jean-Claude Katte; Zakariaou Njoumemi; Pierre Ongolo-Zogo; Leopold K Fezeu; Eugene Sobngwi; Jean Claude Mbanya Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2018-08-15 Impact factor: 3.295