TITLE:
Smoking Addiction and Risk Factors in Teenagers in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
AUTHORS:
Aké-Assi Marie-Hélène, Coulibaly Amed, Eboua Tanoh François, Bhérat Kouadio Armel, Boko Kouassi Alexandre
KEYWORDS:
Tobacco, Teenagers, School, Street Children, Cote d’Ivoire
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.8 No.4,
November
15,
2018
ABSTRACT: A prospective cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study was
conducted using an individual questionnaire over a four-month period from
October 04th, 2013 to February 06th, 2014 in Abidjan.
It included teenagers aged from 13 to 17 who are students among which some are not attending school and living in the street for
others. The purpose of this study was to describe the socio-demographic
characteristics of the teenagers addicted to smoking and to determine the
factors associated with smoking addiction. 446 teenagers were recruited. A
prospective cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study was conducted over
a four-month period from October 4th, 2013 to February 06, 2014 in Abidjan.
There were 76% boys versus 26% girls. The prevalence of smoking addiction was 81.9%
for teenagers not attending school and living in the street and 18.1% for
teenage students. The average age of smoking initiation was 12.9 years. Sources
of motivation for tobacco consumption were imitation (31.25%), curiosity
(29.46%) and the desire of self-assertiveness (17.85%). Being of male sex,
having non-educated parents, being in a single-parent home and in a family with
more than five children were the features related to the status of teenagers
not attending school and living in the street. Smoking addiction in teenagers
was influenced by one of the parents smoking addiction. To address the problem
of teenager addicted to smoking in Cote d’Ivoire, tobacco control interventions
should be taken into account regarding to the psychosocial characteristics of teenagers,
especially those living in the street.