Effects of the smoking prevention intervention in primary school students - centering on the change of knowledge and attitude-

국민학생들의 흡연예방교육 개입효과에 관한 연구 -흡연에 대한 지식 및 태도 변화를 중심으로-

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of smoking prevention program on changing the knowledge and attitude about smoking behavior of elementary school students, In September 1993, as a pretest, a total of 1492 students from 4 elementary schools in Seoul were assessed with self-completing questionnaire pertaining to knowledge and attitude about smoking. Among them, 704 students from 2 schools were assigned to intervention group and 788 students from other 2 schools were assigned to control group. Smoking prevention program was implemented in intervention group for about six months. In September 1994, as a posttest, all students were reassessed with the same questionnaire. The overall experimental smoking rate of students in the study was 8.0%; 13.4% in males and 2.9% in females. The baseline smoking knowledge score of intervention group and control group was 12.3 and 12.0, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups. But each score collected after one year interval was 15.3 and 13.0, respectively, which were significantly different(p<0.01). The main items of attitude, such as 'future intention to smoke', were not significantly changed by the intervention. Important predictors of 'future intention to smoke' in males were past history of experimental smoking, paternal smoking and knowledge about smoking. In females, past history of experimental smoking and knowledge about smoking were important predictors.