Table 4

Percentage Correct Responses1 to Survey Items on Knowledge of Short-Term Effects and Attitudes about Tobacco Use Among a Pooled 19 School Aggregate of 5th Grade Students in Western New York State who Received a Tobacco Prevention Program Intervention During the 1998–1999 School Year.

Survey Item:
Baseline Survey
(Pre-Test)
(N = 1596)
Evaluation Survey
(Immediate Post-Test)
(N = 1438)

%2
%2
p-value

Knowledge of short-term effects of tobacco:



(1) Smoking causes bad breath .....................
98.9
100
p = 0.0005
(2) Smokers have yellow teeth and fingers ............
76.9
96.7
p < 0.0001
(3) Low tar cigarettes are safe .....................
93.0
96.7
p = 0.0004
(4) Smokers have clean smelling clothes .............
90.0
94.5
p < 0.0001
(5) Smoking decreases the amount of air that gets into your lungs ........................
90.0
92.5
p = 0.0036
(6) Smoking 1 pack of cigarettes a day costs several hundred dollars per year..................
86.6
93.4
p = 0.0002

Attitude about tobacco use:



(7) People who use tobacco are popular and glamorous...
94.3
94.7
N.S.
(8) Some people start to use tobacco because their friends do ...............................
95.6
97.5
p = 0.0223
(9) Smoking is relaxing ..........................
89.9
89.4
N.S.
(10) Advertising tells the truth about the effects of tobacco use. ...........................
80.0
87.3
p = 0.0162

1Proportions were compared at the School Level (N = 19), using Wilcoxon-Matched Pairs/Signed Rank Tests. P-values were identified as significant if they were less than or equal to .05, thus rejecting the null hypothesis (that the Intervention had No Effect); n.s. = not significant. 2Percentages shown are the Medians, which summarize the distribution of correct responses by school.

Mahoney et al. BMC Family Practice 2002 3:3   doi:10.1186/1471-2296-3-3