Prevalence and predictors of cigarette smoking among Greek urban adolescents: A cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTIONStudies on smoking prevalence of Greek adolescents are sparse and ambiguous.We aimed to investigate prevalence and predictors of cigarette smoking among Greek adolescents. METHODSWe conducted a cross-sectional study of 1.802 randomly selected students in the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece in 2013-2014.Multistage sampling with quotas was used with regard to the geographical distribution of the target population gender and grade.Data were collected by a self-completed questionnaire.Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to evaluate the association between selected variables and the likelihood of being a current smoker.RESULTS Cigarette smoking was reported by 18.2% (95% CI=16.4 -20.0); 8.1% (95% CI=6.2 -10.0) of Gymnasium and 26.1% (95% CI=23.4 -28.8) of Lyceum students reported being smokers.An estimated 38.0% (95% CI=35.8 -40.2) had ever tried cigarette, 27.1% (95% CI=25.1 -29.2) hookah and 17.7% (95% CI=15.9 -19.5) an electronic cigarette.Older age (OR= 11.59; 95% CI [6.25, 21.50], parental tobacco use (OR=1.71;95% CI [1.19, 2.46]), sibling tobacco use (OR=2.07;95% CI [1.43, 2.99], teachers' tobacco use (OR=1.97;95%CI [1.23, 3.17]), exposure to smoking through the media (OR= 1.48; 95% CI[1.03,2.14]and tobacco promotion activities (OR=3.73;95%CI[2.88,4.83]were associated with current smoking. CONCLUSIONSGreek adolescents report lower smoking rates than previously reported, yet it is a population experimenting with tobacco products.Electronic cigarette emerged as the third most likely product of experimentation.The social origin of smoking behavior is confirmed, as well as the imperative need to encourage tobacco-free school policies and bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.