Studying the Prevalence of Smokeless Tobacco Products and Related Factors among High School Students in Chabahar City

Smokeless tobacco consumption is one of the serious health-threatening factors in society, especially among adolescents. Due to the high usage of these products in the southeastern regions of Iran, this survey was conducted to investigate the prevalence of smokeless tobacco products and related factors among high school students in Chabahar city. This study was a cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study, in which 330 high school students were selected by a simple multi-stage random sampling method. Data were collected via a researcher-made questionnaire and was filled using an in-person method. Data were then analyzed using descriptive and analytical tests by SPSS v.21 software. In this study, the mean age of the students was 16.3±1.14 years. Results showed that the prevalence of smokeless tobacco products was 45.8% among students, 43.3% among close friends, and 38.8% in families, where the predominant form of smokeless tobacco products was Pan-Prague (62.2%). Furthermore, the results of logistic regression revealed that addiction of close friends (OR=3.8, p=0.001), addiction of family members (OR=2.1, p=0.03), addiction of males (OR=2.2, p=0.001), low awareness (OR=3.9, p=0.001), and low attitude (OR=2.7, p=0.001) can significantly increase the likelihood of smokeless tobacco usage in students. Altogether, the findings of this study showed that the prevalence of smokeless tobacco usage among high school students in Chabahar is high, and thus, appropriate, effective, and preventive interventions should be taken into account regarding the influential factors.