Erick Patience N, Smith Derek R
School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, New South Wales, Australia.
Tob Induc Dis. 2013 Nov 27;11(1):24. doi: 10.1186/1617-9625-11-24.
Tobacco is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nearly 80% of all smokers live in low to middle income countries. Previous research has suggested that smoking rates vary by occupation, with relatively low rates commonly seen among educators. Despite this fact, little is known about the smoking habits of teachers in Botswana. The objective of this study, therefore, was to investigate prevalence and correlates of tobacco use among school teachers in Botswana.
The prevalence of smoking among school teachers in Botswana was found to be relatively low. Of the 1732 participants in the study, only 3.2% reported being current smokers, 5.3% were ex-smokers and 91.5% had never smoked. Smoking was more common among male teachers when compared to females, being 10.8% and 0.4%, respectively. Factors such as school level, marital status and body mass index were found to be positively associated with tobacco smoking, whereas age, length of employment and weekly working hours were not.
This study suggests that Botswana school teachers have a low prevalence of tobacco smoking. While this result may be attributed to tobacco control measures that have been put in place, there is still need to put in place systems to monitor compliance and programs to help those who want to quit smoking. Such protocols would represent a major step forward in further reducing the prevalence of smoking in the education profession.
烟草是全球主要死因之一，近80%的吸烟者生活在低收入和中等收入国家。此前的研究表明，吸烟率因职业而异，教育工作者的吸烟率相对较低。尽管如此，关于博茨瓦纳教师的吸烟习惯知之甚少。因此，本研究的目的是调查博茨瓦纳学校教师烟草使用的患病率及其相关因素。
研究发现，博茨瓦纳学校教师的吸烟率相对较低。在该研究的1732名参与者中，只有3.2%的人报告为当前吸烟者，5.3%为曾经吸烟者，91.5%的人从未吸烟。与女性教师相比，男性教师吸烟更为普遍，分别为10.8%和0.4%。研究发现，学校级别、婚姻状况和体重指数等因素与吸烟呈正相关，而年龄、工作年限和每周工作时长则不然。
本研究表明，博茨瓦纳学校教师的吸烟率较低。虽然这一结果可能归因于已实施的烟草控制措施，但仍需建立监测合规情况的系统以及帮助想要戒烟者的项目。此类方案将是进一步降低教育行业吸烟率的重要一步。
