Introduction: In 1998, Tobacco-free Community Partnerships were established in all 67 counties of Florida with funding from the state's Tobacco Pilot Program. This study tests the hypothesis that partnership performance is inversely related to prevalence of cigarette use and directly related to level of committed non-smoking among middle school and high school students. Methods: Community Partnerships were ranked as needs improvement, average, and excellent according to their performance in 1998 using 57 measures of membership, organizational representation, planning and development, and partnership activities. These rankings were merged with the 1998 and 1999 Florida Youth Tobacco Surveys (FYTS), a complex two-stage cluster sample of public school students (n=22,454 and 20,630 respectively). Prevalence of cigarette use and proportion of committed non-smokers among middle school and high school male and females were estimated by partnership rank. Results: During 1998, current cigarette use decreased among youth in counties with average and excellent partnership performance. Counties with partnerships whose performance needed improvement had slight increases in current cigarette use among high school students and small decreases among middle school students. The proportion of middle school and high school females who were committed non-smokers increased in all partnerships. Committed non- smoking among males also increased except in counties where partnership performance needed improvement. Conclusion: Well-organized and active Community Partnerships can have a positive impact on youth tobacco use and committed non-smoking.
Learning Objectives: Objective: Assess the impact of community partnerships on youth tobacco use in Florida
Keywords: Tobacco Control, Community-Based Partnership
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.