Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health

Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2015, Pages 239 - 247

Prevalence and correlates of tobacco use among school-going adolescents in Madagascar

Authors
Sreenivas P. Veerankia, *, drveeranki@gmail.com spveeran@utmb.edu, Hadii M. Mamudub, Rijo M. Johnc, Ahmed E.O. Oumad
aDepartment of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA
bDepartment of Health Services Management and Policy, College of Public Health, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA
cIndian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
dTobacco Control Division, WHO Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
*Corresponding author at: Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Ewing Hall 1.128, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX 77555-1150, USA. Tel.: +1 409 772 2535; fax: +1 409 772 5272.
Corresponding Author
Received 3 June 2014, Revised 8 December 2014, Accepted 14 December 2014, Available Online 30 January 2015.
DOI
10.1016/j.jegh.2014.12.005How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Tobacco use; Adolescents; Madagascar; Tobacco control; Low- and middle-income countries; Africa
Abstract

Approximately 90% of adults start smoking during adolescence, with limited studies conducted in low-and-middle-income countries where over 80% of global tobacco users reside. The study aims to estimate prevalence and identify predictors associated with adolescents’ tobacco use in Madagascar. We utilized tobacco-related information of 1184 school-going adolescents aged 13–15 years, representing a total of 296,111 youth from the 2008 Madagascar Global Youth Tobacco Survey to determine the prevalence of tobacco use. Gender-wise multivariable logistic regression models were conducted to identify key predictors.

Approximately 19% (30.7% males; 10.2% females) of adolescents currently smoke cigarettes, and 7% (8.5% males and 5.8% females) currently use non-cigarette tobacco products. Regardless of sex, peer smoking behavior was significantly associated with increased tobacco use among adolescents. In addition, exposures to tobacco industry promotions, secondhand smoke (SHS) and anti-smoking media messages were associated with tobacco use. The strong gender gap in the use of non-cigarette tobacco products, and the role of peer smoking and industry promotions in adolescent females’ tobacco use should be of major advocacy and policy concern. A comprehensive tobacco control program integrating parental and peer education, creating social norms, and ban on promotions is necessary to reduce adolescents’ tobacco use.

Copyright
© 2015 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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Journal
Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Volume-Issue
5 - 3
Pages
239 - 247
Publication Date
2015/01/30
ISSN (Online)
2210-6014
ISSN (Print)
2210-6006
DOI
10.1016/j.jegh.2014.12.005How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2015 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Cite this article

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Sreenivas P. Veeranki
AU  - Hadii M. Mamudu
AU  - Rijo M. John
AU  - Ahmed E.O. Ouma
PY  - 2015
DA  - 2015/01/30
TI  - Prevalence and correlates of tobacco use among school-going adolescents in Madagascar
JO  - Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
SP  - 239
EP  - 247
VL  - 5
IS  - 3
SN  - 2210-6014
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2014.12.005
DO  - 10.1016/j.jegh.2014.12.005
ID  - Veeranki2015
ER  -