Survey on current situation and harm cognition of passive smoking among junior students in Qingdao city

Objective The study aims to understand current situation and awareness on health effects of passive smoking among junior students in Qingdao city,in order to provide some effective reference and scientific evidence for making tobacco-control policy in special fields and reinforcing tobacco-control of special group.Methods The Global Youth Tobacco Survey core questionnaire was conducted among 6 155 junior students selected from 44 junior middle schools by multi-stage stratified cluster sampling from September to November 2014,to understand the current situation and harm cognition of passive smoking among junior students in Qingdao city.Results The survey showed that 54.8% of junior students were exposed to passive smoking,with percentage of junior students living in urban area (60.4%) higher than that in rural area (49.9%).The highest rate of passive smoking in different public places in the past 7 days was public transportation (11.7%),followed by at home (29.6%),indoor (36.1%) and outdoor(40.5%).In the past 30 days,32.1% junior school students were witness of smoking in schools,of which,6.0 percent of junior students saw teachers smoking in schools every day.About 81.1% of junior students agreed that passive smoking was harmful to health,with 60.6% and 62.0% separately supporting the smoking ban in indoor and outdoor public places.Conclusion The current situation and harm cognition of passive smoking needed to be improved urgently among junior students in Qingdao city.We should take effective measures to decrease the use of tobacco and the exposure of passive smoking,and to make great efforts to establish a smoke-free environment.