Clearing the air: American Indian tribal college students' exposure to second hand smoke and attitudes towards creating smoke free campuses

Background: Rates of smoking among tribal college students (TCS) are more than double the rates of US college students, making second hand smoke (SHS) exposure in this population an important issue. While efforts to encourage smoke-free campuses have led to 1,182 colleges instituting smoke-free campus policies, only 3 tribal colleges have done so. Methods: In this ongoing observational prospective cohort study, we are recruiting four consecutive freshman cohorts (2011–2014). Students at two tribal colleges are surveyed biannually by web-based survey. The survey examines smoking behavior, peer tobacco use, smoking norms, and attitudes toward regulation of tobacco, and other health behaviors. We present the first three years of baseline data. Results: Of 792 participants, 59% were female, the mean age was 25 (SD=8.57), and 44% self-identified as smokers. When asked how many of your 5 closest friends smoke, 31% had 3–5 friends who smoke. Fifty-five percent of students said that they spend some, almost all or all of their time with people who smoke. Thirty-four percent of students live with someone who currently smokes cigarettes. However, 80% of students said that smoking is not allowed inside where they live. When asked if they would like their campus to be smoke-free, 27% disagreed, 20% were neutral and 53% agreed. Conclusions: While current smoking prevalence of college students has decreased dramatically over the past decade, TCS continue to smoke at higher rates. TCS have high exposure to SHS due to limited campus smoking policies and exposure to other indoor areas.