The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #61206

Nancy Rigotti, MD, Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, 50 Staniford Street, 9th floor, Boston, MA 02114, 617 724 4709, nrigotti@partners.org and Henry Wechsler, PhD, Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.

Colleges and universities provide a key channel for reaching young adults, because one-third of U.S. young adults attend college. Tobacco use by college students rose 28% from 1993-99, and efforts to discourage tobacco use have only recently appeared. This presentation will provide an overview of the current situation, emphasizing new data and ongoing research by investigators across the U.S. It will (1) review new data on the prevalence and patterns of tobacco use by U.S. college students; (2) identify promising campus-level and individual-level intervention approaches to discourage tobacco use and review the evidence to support them, and (3) identify tobacco control policies proposed for colleges by national organizations (e.g., American Cancer Society, American College Health Association), review the evidence supporting their effectiveness, address their prevalence, and determine the level of student support for them. Finally, it will pose questions needing further study. The presentation will include new (2001) data from the presenter’s analyses of the Harvard College Alcohol Survey (cross-sectional surveys of random samples of over 10,000 students at 119 nationally-representative U.S. colleges and universities conducted 4 times from 1993-2001). The 2001 survey demonstrates a 7% fall in tobacco use prevalence over 2 years, a predominance of occasional (non-daily) and “social” smoking among users, little nicotine dependence or interest in quitting, and strong student support for recommended campus tobacco control policies. The goal is to identify an evidence-based program, policy, and research agenda for young adults attending college

Learning Objectives:

• To identify patterns of tobacco use in college students; to understand the various intervention approaches to discouraging tobacco use in this population, including policy, community, and individual interventions.

Keywords: College Students, Tobacco

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.