Journal of Thoracic Oncology | 2021
P40.01 Tobacco use in Adolescence and Associated Factors: Products, School, Family, Peers and Movies in Pandemic Period
Abstract
Introduction: Tobacco smoking among adolescents is still frequent and stalling in the last decades, so the main purpose of this research is to know if the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on adolescents perceptions regarding smoking We investigated: 1) the prevalence of active cigarette smoking;2) if smoking of parents and friends and school environment influences the choice to smoke;3) if the students capture the presence of images of smoking in films;4) the level of concern of the younger people regarding the association between Covid-19 disease and smoke Methods: 719 students (65% boys, aged 13-19 years, from the high school, technical and professional institutes) filled an anonymous questionnaire (31-item), during Covid-lockdown Results: The students have been subdivided into the following categories: daily smokers (12 8%), occasional (30 3%), former (8 8%) and never smokers (48 1%) 52% of students have smoked at least once (n s for gender) Interestingly, over time the probability of starting to smoke decreases (fig1) Furthermore, the students who start smoking early tend to smoke daily (r=-0 13;p < 0 01) and more cigarettes (r=-0 30;p < 0 01) 83% of students start smoking out of curiosity and a spirit of adventure, consuming 1 to 4 cigarettes daily Moreover 30% of them would want to quit but failed;27% never thought about it;while 44% report that they will quit smoking in a few years 59% consume manufactured cigarettes, 36% smoke rolling tobacco;3% use HNB and 2% e-cigarettes The type of cigarettes considered less harmful are electronic cigarettes 68% of the student smokers have in turn someone in the family who smokes, on the contrary only 37 5% of non-smoking students have parent smokers Considering only the students who smoked at least once, 65% replied that someone among friends smoke, while only 4% of no-smokers have smoking friends Finally, the adolescents attending professional institutes smoke daily and more cigarettes (F (2, 368)=5 32;p<0 05) compared to the other Moreover, it emerged that 48% do not pay attention to smoking scenes in the movies About the coronavirus epidemic, 80% reported a upper-middle concern and 84% think that is very dangerous for smokers, while 76,3% consider that the respiratory symptoms of smokers Covid-19 patients could have a worse outcome and that being a smoker can become very dangerous for the clinical complications that can occur (84%) [Formula presented] Conclusion: These data, even more meaningful during COVID-19 pandemic, highlight the importance and the need of primary prevention as well as of suitable secondary prevention programs Keywords: Tobacco use, adolescents, Pandemic period