Prospective survey referring to the smoking habits among high school students in Plovdiv, Bulgaria (2004-2010-2016)

Introduction: Tobacco smoking is a world major cause for premature death and serious health problems. The growing up of youngsters as intensive smokers gives its burden to the healthcare system as a whole. Aim: To investigate how the smoking behaviour of adolescents has changed. Methods: The study was organised, using an anonymous questionnaire among students from the age of 16 to 18 in Plovdiv schools. 800 students were interviewed in 2004, 460 in 2010 and 562 in 2016. The questions are translated and adapted by GYTS, WHO’s program form. The statistical processing of data is completed by descriptive statistics and Student’s t-test. Results: For a period of 12 years, we have reported a statistically significant increase in the number of non-smoking students and of those who hadn’t even try tobacco once. In 2004, 84.9% of the adolescents had tried a cigarette, while in 2010- 72.4% and in 2016- 62,5%. The analysis of the trend shows statistically significant decrease averagely with 11,3 % (r2=0,9963, P Conclusion: The study reported increasingly good results which are most probably consequences of the measures for limiting smoking taken in Bulgaria. The growing up of young people as non-smokers will lead to decreasing of tobacco-related diseases in the future.