Tobacco Use Among Students from Romania 2004 versus 2009 GYTS Data

Tobacco is a silent killer accounting for a great cause of death and disability. Scientific research has proved undoubtedly that it is a recognized cause for more than 25 different diseases affecting human beings, including several fatal diseases. The present study was conducted in the frame of Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), which attempts to determine the level of tobacco use, estimate the age of smoking initiation, levels of susceptibility to become cigarette smokers, exposure to tobacco advertising, attitudes and beliefs regarding tobacco use among youth. Its aim is to compare the two sets of data (2004, 2009) in order to asses the impact of tobacco control measures adopted in the interval between studies. In both studies all schools from Romania containing 6th, 7th, and 8th grade with 40 or more students were included in the sampling frame. A two-stage cluster sample design was used to produce a representative sample of students. SUDDAN software package has been used to compute standard errors for point estimates and produce 95% confidence intervals. Our data indicate a high prevalence of smoking among the studied ages in Romania. However, comparing the data across the two studies we noticed a decrease in both the prevalence of ever smokers and current smokers in 2009, a slightly decrease of the percentage of students exposed to other’s people smoke in public places, along with a significant change on media and advertising regime, showing a positive impact of tobacco control measures adopted in the interval between studies.