Prevenzione del tabagismo: valutazione di un programma scolastico in Europa

[Machine translation] Objective: The article reports the short-term results of the EU-DAP project, a multicenter study evaluating a school prevention intervention for smoking, alcohol use and illegal psychotropic substances conducted in 7 European countries., Methods: The experimental intervention consists of a 12-session school curriculum based on a “comprehensive social influence” model, conducted by teachers within the ordinary school framework. The effectiveness evaluation was conducted through a Randomized Controlled Trial in which schools were randomly assigned to an intervention group (new curriculum) or a control group (health education in use). The students between the ages of 12 and 14 in the 143 schools that cooperated in the study (7079 at the time of recruitment), constitute the sample on which the evaluation was carried out. The behaviors being evaluated were reported by the students in an anonymous questionnaire, administered before the intervention and on two subsequent occasions after surgery. The association between intervention and cigarette smoking was analyzed using multilevel logistic regression, with association estimates expressed as Post-Test Prevalence Odds Ratios (POR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI)., Results: A protective association was observed between the experimental curriculum and the prevalence of daily smoking (at least 20 cigarettes in the last 30 days, POR=0.70; CI=0.52-0.94). Among the students exposed to the experimental curriculum, the proportion that progressed from non-smoking or sporadic smoking to more advanced levels was lower than in the control group. However, among the students who were already smoking daily at the pre-test, there was no program-related decrease in smoking., Conclusions: Health education interventions based on a “comprehensive social influence” model may be effective in preventing or delaying regular smoking among adolescents.