Association Between Tobacco Use and Secondhand Smoke Exposure with Other Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among Adolescents in Juárez, Mexico

Background-- Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease among adolescents. The study objectives were two fold: (1) To describe the tobacco use and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure profiles of adolescents attending middle school (average age 14.3 years old), and (2) to explore the association between tobacco use and ETS exposure, with other cardiovascular disease risk factors (i.e., hypertension, obesity, and dislipidemia).

Methods-- A cross sectional, prospective epidemiological survey was undertaken on a convenience sample of 645 eighth grade students, between the ages of 13-15 years old, attending middle school in Juárez, Mexico. Data gathering involved a comprehensive recording of relevant medical information from patient records.

Results-- The overall smoking prevalence was 31.5% (n=203); with 21.9% of the students being classified as irregular smokers (n=141) and 9.6% as regular smokers (n=62). Of the 203 students who were smokers, 51.2% (N=104) indicated they had initiated smoking at or before the age of 10 years. Smokers were more likely to be male (p<0.01), and of low socioeconomic status (SES) (p<0.01). Despite their relatively young age, regular smokers had significantly higher prevalence of hypertension (>120/80 mm Hg) (p<0.05), elevated Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) (179±5mg/dL) (p<0.01), and lower levels of High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) (39.7± 1.2mg/dL) (p<0.01) than non-smokers.

Conclusions--The findings from the present study suggest that smokers as young as the ones attending middle school are at an increased risk to develop cardiovascular disease prematurely.