Current Tobacco Smoking and Desire to Quit Smoking Among Students Aged 13-15 Years - Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 61 Countries, 2012-2015

Abstract

Tobacco use is the world's leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality, resulting in nearly 6 million deaths each year (1). Smoked tobacco products, such as cigarettes and cigars, are the most common form of tobacco consumed worldwide (2), and most tobacco smokers begin smoking during adolescence (3). The health benefits of quitting are greater for persons who stop smoking at earlier ages; however, quitting smoking at any age has health benefits (4). CDC used the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) data from 61 countries across the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions from 2012 to 2015 to examine the prevalence of current tobacco smoking and desire to quit smoking among students aged 13-15 years. Across all 61 countries, the median current tobacco smoking prevalence among students aged 13-15 years was 10.7% (range = 1.7%, Sri Lanka to 35.0%, Timor-Leste). By sex, the median current tobacco smoking prevalence was 14.6% among males (range = 2.9%, Tajikistan to 61.4%, Timor-Leste) and 7.5% among females (range = 1.6%, Tajikistan to 29.0%, Bulgaria). In the majority of countries assessed, the proportion of current tobacco smokers who desired to quit smoking exceeded 50%. These findings could be used by country level tobacco control programs to inform strategies to prevent and reduce youth tobacco use (1,4).

FIGURE

Proportion of current tobacco smokers who desire to quit, among students aged 13–15 years — 51 countries, Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 2012–2015 * Current tobacco smoking was defined as answering ≥1 day to the question “During the past 30 days, on how many days did you smoke cigarettes?” and/or “Yes” to “During the past 30 days, did you use any form of smoked tobacco products other than cigarettes (such as [country fills appropriate examples])?” ^† Desire to quit was defined as answering “Yes” to the question “Do you want to stop smoking now?” among current tobacco smokers. ^§ Data not reported for desire to quit in Comoros (2015), Gabon (2014), Mozambique (2013), Senegal (2013), Sudan (2014), Georgia (2014), Kazakhstan (2014), San Marino (2014), Tajikistan (2014), and Sri Lanka (2015) because unweighted sample size <35 or relative standard error >0.3.