Abstract

ARILLO-SANTILLAN, Edna et al. Prevalencia de tabaquismo y bajo desempeño escolar, en estudiantes de 11 a 24 años de edad del estado de Morelos, México. Salud pública Méx [online]. 2002, vol.44, suppl.1, pp.s54-s66. ISSN 0036-3634.

Objective. To assess the association between self-reported academic performance and tobacco experimentation and established tobacco use among adolescents and young adults in Morelos State, Mexico. Material and Methods. A population-based, cross-sectional study was carried out in 72 administrative areas from all 33 municipalities of Morelos State (urban, semi-urban and rural areas). A total of 13 293 adolescents and young adults aged 11 to 24 years were randomly selected from public schools. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression models were fitted with smoking habit as the dependent variable with three categories (never a smoker, occasional smoker, and regular smokers). Results. The prevalence of occasional smokers was 14.9% (95% CI: 14.1-15.7) among females and 27.3% (95% CI: 26.1-28.4) among males. The corresponding figures for females and males for established smokers were 6.1% (95% CI: 5.6-6.6) and 13.1% (95% CI: 12.2-13.9), respectively. Academic performance self-reports were found to be inversely proportional to occasional or regular tobacco use. In women, the association with current tobacco consumption was 5.1 times higher (95% CI: 2.5-10.4) in women with a yearly grade average of six or less, in comparison to those with scores of ten or nine. The same pattern was observed in men (OR=4.2; 95% CI: 2.7-6.7), with a significant linear trend both in both women and men. Conclusions. These results evidence that tobacco consumption is related to low academic performance. This relationships is determined by complex lifestyle patterns of adolescents.

Keywords : smoking; underachievement; adolescence; students; Mexico.

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