MATERIALS AND METHODS: Female students (Year 8-10) from 13 public high schools in the Logan district were invited to participate. Each participant completed a questionnaire derived from the Australian Secondary School Alcohol and Drug Survey (ASSADS), including the Nicotine Expectancy Questionnaire (NEQ). In addition to information on the oral health effects of smoking, the intervention group received intervention/prevention interviews by trained oral health therapists. The questionnaire was re-administered 5 months later.
RESULTS: 621 of 1217 students were involved in the intervention programme. A response rate of 73.05% was achieved for post-questionnaires. The intervention group had superior knowledge regarding the adverse oral health effects of smoking. The percentage of correct answers was 89.4% in the intervention group and 45.3% in the control group. Over the 5 month period, the intention to smoke, in the control group had significantly changed towards a stronger intention to smoke (p=0.040). Of those individuals who never smoked, more participants in the control group (3%) took-up smoking compared with the intervention group (less than 1%). Expectancies of positive consequences were the best predictor for distinguishing between subjects who predicted they would be smoking in the future.
CONCLUSION: The dental setting appears to be effective for providing information to this population. The results suggest that positive preventive messages are likely to be most effective in creating young female non-smokers. Since the oral health delivery structure in Australia has a more organised reach into younger age groups than traditional health providers, appropriately trained oral health workers are ideally placed to provide positive health messages regarding non-smoking and smoking cessation in this, at risk, group.