Premium
Do school based anti‐smoking campaigns delivered by oral health therapists work?
Author(s) -
Matias MA,
Steindl SR,
Plonka KA,
Pukkallus M,
Palmer J,
Holcombe T,
Seymour GJ,
Marshall RI
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
australian dental journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1834-7819
pISSN - 0045-0421
DOI - 10.1111/adj.12078
Subject(s) - medicine , intervention (counseling) , smoking cessation , oral health , family medicine , smoking prevention , physical therapy , nursing , pathology
Background The dental profession has a pivotal role in cancer prevention. In Queensland, oral health therapists ( OHT s) are in a unique position to provide quality smoking cessation programmes and intervention strategies to young adolescents through the school based oral health services they provide. Methods This study undertook a smoking cessation and prevention programme targeted to female high school students in a dental setting. An oral health therapist delivered an anti‐smoking message and educated adolescents of the health‐risk effects of smoking. Results A total of 1217 female students were recruited with 621 (51%) in the intervention group and 596 (49%) in the control group. There was a significant improvement in the knowledge of both systemic and oral health effects of smoking in the intervention group (p < 0.04). The results of the study demonstrated that the dental setting is an effective avenue for educating young individuals on smoking related conditions. Conclusions A smoking cessation and prevention programme targeted to female high school students in a dental setting provides a novel means of delivering an anti‐smoking message and educating adolescents of the health‐risk effects of smoking.