Abstract
Objective: To describe the prevalence of daily cigarette use among Canadian undergraduates. Estimates are also compared to earlier Ontario surveys.
Methods: Data are drawn from the Canadian Campus Survey, a national mail survey, conducted in the fall of 1998, with a random sample of 7,800 students from 16 universities.
Results: Overall, 17.1% reported daily cigarette smoking and 10.4% reported occasional smoking. Rates of daily smoking differed significantly by region (with rates above average among those attending university in the Atlantic and below average among those attending university in British Columbia and the Prairies), residence (those residing off campus without family reported the highest prevalence rate), and year of study (those in the final year typically reported lower rate of use).
Interpretation: University campuses represent an environment with potential gains to be made by tobacco control policies.
Résumé
Objectif: Décrire la prévalence de la consommation quotidienne de cigarettes chez les étudiants universitaires canadiens de premier cycle. Les estimés sont également comparés à des enquêtes ontariennes réalisées antérieurement.
Méthode: Les données proviennent du l’Enquête sur les campus canadiens, une enquête nationale effectuée par courrier au cours de l’automne 1998 auprès d’un échantillon aléatoire de 7 800 étudiants de 16 universités.
Résultats: Dans l’ensemble, 17,1% des répondants rapportent fumer la cigarette quotidiennement et 10,4 % ont déclaré être des fumeurs occasionnels. Le taux de fumeurs quotidiens diffère significativement selon la région (avec un taux supérieur à la moyenne nationale dans les Maritimes et inférieur en Colombie-Britannique et dans les Prairies), le lieu de résidence (ceux résidant à hors campus sans leurs parents rapportant la prévalence la plus élevée) et l’année d’étude en cours (ceux en dernière année d’études rapportant un taux inférieur d’usage du tabac).
Interprétation: Les campus universitaires représentent un environnement où des politiques de contrôle du tabac pouraient entraîner des gains en matière de tabagisme.
Footnotes
Acknowledgement:This study was partially funded by the Brewer’s Association of Canada.
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