Attitudes towards smoking among young people

Uvod: Mladež tijekom sazrijevanja i traženja identiteta počinje eksperimentirati sa društveno najprihvaćenijom i legalnom drogom duhanom. Stavovi mladih o pušenju duhana istražuju se već desetljećima, dok u Republici Hrvatskoj takvog istraživanja nije bilo. Cilj ovog istraživanja je istražiti stavove o pušenju duhana kod mladih koji se koriste facebook društvenom mrežom. Metoda: Pomoću anketnog online upitnika provedeno je istraživanje stavova mladih o pušenju duhana putem društvene mreže facebook. Rezultati: Upitnik je ispunilo ukupno 203 osobe, od kojih je 108 zadovoljilo kriterije za uključivanje u istraživanje te su oni uključeni u analizu. Od 108 ispitanika 23 (21%) je muškaraca i 85 (79%) je žena. Njih 57,4% su pušači. Pušača je značajno više u dobi od 19 do 24 godine. Srednja dob početka pušenja je 16 godina. Pušači većinom ne znaju razlog početka pušenja, puše zbog osjećaja odraslosti i pritiska društva. Navode da trenutno puše zbog osobnog zadovoljstva, stresa i navike. Značajno više ispitanika u dobi od 19 do 24 godine stava su da adolescenti i mladi ne bi trebali kupovati cigarete te da pušenje uzrokuje isušivanje kože i prijevremeno starenje. Sveukupno 75% ispitanika slaže se da pušenje uzrokuje rak pluća te ih se 61,1% slaže da pušenje pridonosi prijevremenom umiranju. 60,2% ispitanika smatra da je najdjelotvorniji način prestanka pušenja metoda postupnog smanjivanja broja popušenih cigareta na dan, a 34,3% ispitanika navodi metodu napuštanja pušenja odjednom. Mladi smatraju da se broj pušača može smanjiti ukoliko se poveća cijena duhanskih proizvoda. Kao najmanje djelotvornu intervenciju za smanjenje broja pušača navode ograničavanje oglašavanja i reklamiranja duhanskih proizvoda. Zaključak: Rezultati ovog istraživanja pokazuju da pušenje duhana u mladih predstavlja javno zdravstveni problem, stoga je važno prepoznatu svrsishodnu mjeru povećanja poreza na duhan provoditi u budućnosti kao ključan element prevencije. Osim toga, potrebno je provoditi sve raspoložive intervencije koje su dokazano učinkovite za edukaciju i osviješćivanje mladih o štetnostima pušenja i opasnostima prikrivenog oglašavanja duhanskih proizvoda.Introduction: During maturation and search for their identity, the youth begins to experiment with the most accepted social and legal drug, tobacco. Young people attitudes towards tobacco smoking are being researched for decades, while in Croatia, such research was not existent. The goal of this research is to explore attitudes towards tobacco smoking among young people who are using Facebook social network. Method: Research about attitudes of young people towards tobacco smoking was conducted by online questionnaire survey via Facebook social network. Results: The questionnaire was completed by a total of 203 persons, from which 108 met the criteria for research, and therefore they were included in the analysis. Out of 108 subjects, 23 (21%) were men and 85 (79%) were female. 57.4% of them are smokers. There were significantly more smokers at the age of 19-24 years. Mean age of smoking onset is 16 years. Smokers usually do not know the reason for start of smoking, they smoke for a feeling of maturity and because of peer pressure. Smokers report that they are currently smoking because of personal satisfaction, stress and habit. Significantly more respondents aged 19-24 have opinion that adolescents and young people should not be buying cigarettes and that smoking causes drying of skin and premature aging. Overall, 75% respondents agree that smoking causes lung cancer, and 61.1% of them agree that smoking contributes to premature death. 60.2% respondents consider that the most effective way for cessation of smoking is the method of gradual reduction of the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and 34.3% respondents stated the method of quitting smoking altogether at once. Young people believe that the number of smokers can be decreased if the price of tobacco products is increased. As the least effective intervention for reducing numbers of smokers they state restricting advertising and marketing of tobacco products. Conclusion: Results of this study show that tobacco smoking among young people represent public health problem, therefore it is important to conduct purposeful acknowledged measure of tax increases on tobacco in the future as a key element of prevention. In addition, it is necessary to conduct all available interventions that are proven effective for education and raising awareness of young people about the hazards of smoking and the dangers of hidden advertising of tobacco products