Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This pre-post quasi-experimental study was designed to investigate the effects of school based smoking prevention education on knowledge and attitude toward smoking, and the satisfaction of education among middle school students.
METHODS
The subjects included 94 middle school students in the experimental group, and 87 students in the control group. The educational content contained smoking refusal skills, which were taught through lectures and videos. Data collection was achieved using a self-reported questionnaire developed by the investigator. Data were analyzed with the SPSS 10.0 program including frequency, percentile, chi2, paired t-test, and ANCOVA.
RESULTS
The results were as follows: 1. After the smoking prevention education, the smoking knowledge of the experimental group was significantly improved, whereas that of control group didn't change significantly. 2. There were no significant differences between pretest and post test attitude scores in both groups. 3. Refusal skill was the education content that provided the highest satisfaction for the subjects, and the degree of satisfaction was higher with video watching than with a lecture.
CONCLUSION
Smoking prevention education for middle school students increased their level of smoking knowledge, but did not affect their attitudes toward smoking. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a more effective program, and to evaluate the effects of a long term education program with further studies.