School-based anti-smoking intervention for physiotherapy students: a three-year non-randomized trial

INTRODUCTION. The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of a school-based intervention for reducing tobacco consumption among physiotherapy students. MATERIALS AND METHODS. This controlled trial involved two groups of physiotherapy students: a treatment group (A) and a control group (B). Treatment consisted of a seminar on smoking-related diseases (3 hours) and training (at least 10 months) in a respiratory diseases or thoracic surgery unit. The control group (B) did not undergo any treatment. The main outcome was the prevalence of smokers. Follow-up lasted 3 years. RESULTS. Groups A and B comprised 78 and 72 students, respectively. The two groups did not differ in terms of gender distribution, mean age, prevalence of smokers and nicotine dependence. In group A, the prevalence of smoking declined from 36% to 33% between T0 and T1 (3 years), the relative risk (RR) at T1 being 0.93 (95% CI: 0.6-1.44). In group B, the prevalence increased from 28% to 35% between T0 and T1, with a RR at T1 of 1.26 (0.76- 2.11). The prevalence reduction "attributable" to the intervention in group A 7.7%, while a 27.8% increase in prevalence "attributable" to the absence of intervention was found in group B. However, the differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS. School-based interventions seem to be effective in reducing the prevalence of smoking among healthcare students. Further studies on larger samples and with standardized methodology are required in order to confirm these preliminary findings.