Objective: To assess the prevalence of tobacco dependence among adolescents in the Czech Republic in 2010, their willingness to quit and knowledge about quitting options.
Methods: Primary, intermediate and secondary school students completed an anonymous questionnaire on tobacco use during a smoking prevention class, with a response rate of 100%.
Results: Of 1420 anonymous questionnaires analysed, 66.8% (n = 949) of respondents had ever tried smoking. More were from smoking (50.4%) than non-smoking (49.6%) families; there were no differences in sex. Most student smokers had experimented with cigarettes (94.6%), cigars (8%), marihuana cigarettes (4.6%) and water pipes (1.9%). At the time of the survey, 52.9% (520/949) of those who had ever tried smoking were current smokers, 30.3% smoked daily, 18.3% weekly and 4.2% less frequently. Only 20.5% of smokers had not considered quitting, and 66.9% had tried unsuccessfully to quit. Withdrawal symptoms were experienced by 24.5% (123/502) of the current smokers, indicating a high level of nicotine dependence in this age group. The majority (346/467, 74.1%) of the current smokers said they would stop smoking immediately on their own. Only a few would seek help at a pharmacy (4.9%), 3.4% would ask their doctor and 1.7% their parents.
Conclusions: Tobacco dependence is prevalent among Czech adolescents. The majority of smokers wanted to stop, but knowledge about smoking cessation and quitting assistance offered to smokers was low.