The goal of this study is to conduct pilot research that will inform the development of a randomized campus/community trial to reduce college student smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. The trial will build on the success of the approach used in the Study to Prevent Alcohol-Related Consequences (SPARC), a 10-school randomized trial to change the culture and environment on the college campus and surrounding community to reduce high-risk drinking and alcohol-related consequences among college students. The first specific aim of this project is to collect and analyze data that will inform the design of the intervention for the trial. To achieve this aim, we will develop and implement a web-based survey of college administrators from 54 colleges and universities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. We will also conduct key informant interviews with a smaller sample of administrators and college students. Results from the survey and interviews will provide insight as to how to frame the problem to college administrators, identify criteria on which to select schools to be included in the trial, and identify policies and practices that college administrators may be willing to implement on their campus. The second specific aim is to develop methods for the systematic assessment of exposure to secondhand smoke among college students. Two methods will be used to measure air quality. The first is microenvironment indoor air quality monitoring, which involves measuring air quality in specific venues in and around the college campus that are likely to be populated by college students. The second approach, personal air monitoring, involves continuous measurement of air quality by a sample of college students throughout the course of their normal day. This will enable us to estimate average daily exposure to secondhand smoke, as well as the ways in which frequenting different kinds of venues is related to students'exposure. It will also enable us to estimate the within-student and within-campus intra-class correlation coefficients needed to calculate the sample size necessary for a follow-on randomized campus/community trial. Innovative features of the proposed study include its focus on the postsecondary setting, assessment of colleges'receptivity to an environmental approach, and measurement of exposure to secondhand smoke among college students, which has not been attempted previously.7. Project Narrative Tobacco use among college students is an important public health issue. Although smoking rates among adolescents have declined, smoking rates by college students rose dramatically during the 1990s and have remained stable in recent years. The goal of this study is to conduct pilot research that will inform the development of a randomized trial to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke among college students.
| Sutfin, Erin L; Swords, Darden C; Song, Eun-Young et al. (2015) Screening and Counseling for Tobacco Use in Student Health Clinics: Reports of Health Care Providers. Am J Health Promot 30:e41-9 |
