Abstract

Tobacco use, particularly smoking, is a major public health concern, especially among young people, who are often at risk of starting smoking at an early age. The study was conducted in a specific community area of New Delhi to evaluate adolescents’ awareness of the health risks associated with tobacco use, including its links to heart disease, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other serious health conditions. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from adolescents aged 12-18 years, focusing on their knowledge about the harmful effects of smoking, factors influencing their attitudes towards tobacco use, and sources of information they rely on for learning about smoking-related risks. The results of this study provide valuable insights into the gaps in knowledge and the misconceptions that may exist among adolescents regarding tobacco smoking. The findings highlight the importance of targeted health education and awareness campaigns in schools and communities to reduce tobacco use initiation and promote healthier lifestyles among young people. The study concludes with recommendations for enhancing tobacco prevention efforts and improving adolescent education on the risks of smoking.Problem Statement: A descriptive study to evaluate knowledge of adolescents regarding tobacco smoking in selected community area of New Delhi Objectives:  1. To assess the knowledge regarding tobacco hazards.  2. To find the association between knowledge score and selected demographic variables. Results: The relationship between adolescents’ knowledge of tobacco use and specific sociodemographic factors, including age in years, education, father’s occupation, monthly family income, family kinds, and tobacco smoking addiction practices of family members. The findings showed that adolescents’ demographic characteristics and their knowledge of tobacco use did not significantly correlate. Thus, the null hypothesis is accepted and the research hypothesis H1 is rejected.  Conclusion: The present study concluded that the adolescent boys’ knowledge of drug addiction prevention was lacking. The  study’s conclusions demonstrated how successful the progressive study was in raising adolescents’ level of  wareness about tobacco smoking among adolescents. The study found that all of the adolescents in the experimental group had increased levels of knowledge of tobacco smoking, regardless of differences in demographic characteristics. 

• 1.   Dube KC, Handa SK. Drug use in health and mental illness in an Indian population. Br J Psychiatry. 1971;118:345-6.
• 2.   Dube KC, Kumar A, Kumar N, Gupta SP. Prevalence and pattern of drug use amongst college students. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1978;57:336-46.
• 3.   Elnagar MN, Maitra P, Rao MN. Mental health in an Indian rural community. Br J Psychiatry. 1971;118:499-503.
• 4.   Ghulam R, Rahman I, Naqi S, Gupta SR. An epidemiological study of drug abuse in the urban population of Madhya Pradesh. Indian J Psychiatry. 1996;38:160-5.
• 5.   Grant JD, Scherrer JF, Lynskey MT, Lyons MJ, Eisen SA, Tsuang MT, et al. Adolescent alcohol use is a risk factor for adult alcohol and drug dependence: evidence from a twin design. Psychol Med. 2006;36(1):109-18.
• 6.   Jena R, Shukla TR, Hemraj P. Drug abuse in a rural community in Bihar: some psychosocial correlates. Indian J Psychiatry. 1996;38:43-6.
• 7.   Kendler KS, Neale MC, Heath AC, Kessler RC, Eaves LJ. A twin family study of alcoholism in women. Am J Psychiatry. 1994;151:707-15.
• 8.   Lal B, Singh G. Alcohol consumption in Punjab. Indian J Psychiatry. 1978;20:212-6.
• 9.   Meena, Khanna P, Vohra AK, Rajput R. Prevalence and pattern of alcohol and substance abuse in urban areas of Rohtak city. Indian J Psychiatry. 2002;44:348-52.
• 10.   Mohan D. Current research in abuse in India. In: Mohan D, Sethi HS, Tongue E, editors. Current Research in Drug Abuse in India. New Delhi: Gemini Printers; 1981. p. 18-31.
• 11.   Nandi DN, Ajmany S, Ganguli H, Banerjee G, Boral GC, Ghosh A, et al. Psychiatric disorders in a rural community in West Bengal: an epidemiological study. Indian J Psychiatry. 1975;17:87.
• 12.   Nutt D, King LA, Saulsbury W, Blakemore C. Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse. Lancet. 2007;369(9566):1047-53.
• 13.   Chavan BS, Arun P, Bhargava R, Singh GP. Prevalence of alcohol and drug dependence in rural and slum population of Chandigarh: a community survey. Indian J Psychiatry. 2007;49(1):44-8.

Data Sharing Statement

Funding