Prevalence, Perceived Factors and Knowledge on Hazards of Tobacco Chewing Among Secondary School Students in Jeddah City 2013-2014

Abstract: Smokeless tobacco is Smokeless tobacco is a tobacco or a tobacco product that is used by means other than smoking, it is available as loose leaves, plugs (bricks), or twists of rope. A piece of tobacco placed behind the lower lip, sometimes next to cheek at either side of mouth. It is either chewed or held in place. Objectives: To determine the prevalence, perceived factors that may lead and deter secondary school students to use tobacco and knowledge on hazards of tobacco chewing on health among secondary school students in jeddah city (2014). Materials and methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among secondary schools in jeddah city. A sample of 530 students from 10 schools were selected using stratified random sampling procedure. Selected students were requested to fill in an Arabic version of pre-tested questionnaire. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 19 and Chi-square test was used to measure the association between independent and dependent variables. The level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The prevalence of tobacco chewing among secondary school students in jeddah city was 28.7%. Majority of students ( 61.7%, 64% ) were respectively highly knowledgeable on relationship between tobacco chewing and occurrence of oral cancer and periodontal diseases. ‘Influence of friends’ was the most common factor that influence students to start chewing tobacco by (66.5%). ‘‘Good guidance from parents and guardians’ 'Knowing detrimental health effects caused by tobacco chewing’ and ‘Religious teachings’ were perceived as factors that may inhibit a person to start chewing tobacco. The tobacco smoking was significantly higher among students who chew tobacco compared with the ones who don’t [ ( 25% & 2.9%, P = 0.00) and (30.3 % & 4.5 %, P = 0.00) respectively]. Conclusions: The prevalence of tobacco chewing among secondary school students in jeddah city appear to be high. Majority of students who participated in this study had good level of knowledge on the detrimental effects of tobacco chewing on health. ‘Influence of friends’ was the most common factor that influence students to start chewing tobacco. Finally, There was a significant association between tobacco chewing and tobacco smoking. Recommendations: There is need for intervention among secondary school students to prevent possible continued trend of tobacco chewing. There should be a call for religious leaders, parents, school teachers to be involved in discouraging chewing of tobacco among secondary school students. Health education should be directed to raise awareness regarding detrimental effects of tobacco chewing among secondary school students. Keywords: Tobacco, Smokeless tobacco, Prevalence, Addiction, Secondary school. Title: Prevalence, Perceived Factors and Knowledge on Hazards of Tobacco Chewing Among Secondary School Students in Jeddah City 2013-2014 Author: Ameen Alhadri, Nahla S. Saati, Yahya M. Aloosh, Amjd A. Slagor, Saleh S. Alqarni, Abdulaziz A. Alshahrani, Hanadi A. Alsadeq, Amwaj Q. Alqhtani, Samih A. Dawas, Mohammed H. Alruwaili, Faisal A. Rafie, Abdullah A. Alamoudi, Mohammed S. Alqahtani, Reem A. Almukhtar, Bashayer M. Almadan International Journal of Healthcare Sciences ISSN 2348-5728 (Online) Research Publish Journals

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