Iglesias CS, Mendiluza NY, Arteaga PY

Language: Spanish
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ABSTRACT

Introduction: smoking represents a world health problem that worsens when occurring in adolescents who are in a disadvantageous position because of the social and psychosicological characteristics of this phase of development in the life cycle.
Objective: to characterize smoking in 15-17 years old adolescents living in the city of Pinar del Rio province in Cuba.
Methods: non-experimental, descriptive and cross-sectional study conducted in adolescents from "Isabel Rubio" and "Rafael Ferro" high schools. A probabilistic stratified sample was used. The study used techniques such as questioning, interview and participant observation during a period from January through May 2015. The evaluated variables were age, sex, smoking habit, length of time of the habit, influence of professors and of smoking relatives and the representations over the smoking habit and the smokers.
Results: in the study group, 26.8 % smoked. Sixteen years of age and males predominated. Most of them did not smoke every day and not longer than a month. The influence of professors, friends and couples is significant. The relatives are the main risk factors in many cases.
Conclusions: there was high incidence of smokers in the adolescents involved in the study and the influence of smokers living around them was significant.