Smoking prevention program for school going Saudi adolescents
Ph.D researcher: Dr. Mutaz Mohammed
Supervisor: Prof Hein De Vries
Co supervisor: Prof Nanne De Vries & Matthjis Eggers
Co-researchers: Fahad Alotaiby
Funding: No funding was received from Public or private sector
Objective:
- To assess smoking prevalence among Saudi adolescents.
- To know the determinants of smoking behavior among Saudi adolescents.
- To develop and implement smoking prevention program for Saudi adolescents.
- To measure the effect of the intervention program
Method:
A randomized controlled trial was used. Respondents in the experimental group (N = 698) received five in-school sessions, while those in the control group (N = 683) received no smoking prevention information (usual curriculum). Post-intervention data was collected six months after baseline. Logistic regression analysis was applied to assess effects on smoking initiation, and linear regression analysis was applied to assess changes in beliefs and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to assess intervention effects. All analyses were adjusted for the nested structure of students within schools.
Results:
At post-intervention respondents from the experimental group reported in comparison with those from the control group a significantly more negative attitude towards smoking, stronger social norms against smoking, higher self-efficacy towards non-smoking, more action planning to remain a non-smoker, and lower intentions to smoke in the future. Smoking initiation was 3.2% in the experimental group and 8.8% in the control group (p < 0.01).
Publications:
Mohammed, M., Eggers, S. M., Alotaiby, F. F., de Vries, N., & de Vries, H. (2014). Smoking uptake among Saudi adolescents: tobacco epidemic indicators and preventive actions needed. Global health promotion, 1757975914548193.
Mohammed, M., Eggers, S. M., Alotaiby, F. F., de Vries, N., & de Vries, H. (2016). Effects of a randomized controlled trial to assess the six-months effects of a school based smoking prevention program in Saudi Arabia. Preventive Medicine, 90, 100-106.