Effectiveness of a School-Based Tobacco Prevention Program for Middle School Students in Saudi Arabia: A Quasi-Experimental Controlled Trial

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a school-based tobacco program in preventing initiation of tobacco use among adolescents in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: We used a quasi-experimental controlled design. Four intervention and four control schools were selected from the regional education registry. A baseline questionnaire was administered to all grade 7 students before implementing the tobacco prevention program, Dentists Fighting Nicotine Dependence (DFND). The intervention group (n =379) received the DFND program whereas the control group (n = 255) received the regular tobacco program administered by the Department of Education. The program was delivered by trained health educators over 5 weeks. Pre- and post-test surveys (immediate and 2-year post-intervention) were collected. Study outcomes were current tobacco use, tobacco knowledge, attitude towards not using tobacco, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) of tobacco use. Covariates included sex, parent education, academic performance, absenteeism, student allowance, and religiosity. Data were analyzed using a two-level hierarchical mixed models.

Results: In the immediate post-test, 597 participants (intervention, n = 366; control, n = 231) were surveyed. There was no difference in tobacco use between intervention and control schools, however, the intervention group had significantly higher mean scores for knowledge (β = 1.27, SE = 0.27,  < .01) and attitude toward not using tobacco (β = 5.17, SE = 2.48,  < .05) after adjusting for covariates. At 2-year post-intervention, 463 participants (intervention, n = 289; control, n = 173) were surveyed. There were no differences in tobacco use, knowledge, attitude or PBC between intervention and control groups.

Conclusions: Our program did not impact tobacco use. In the short-term, the program significantly improved knowledge and attitude towards not using tobacco. These effects decayed 2 years post-intervention without additional programming. Increasing the effectiveness of DFND may be achieved by expanding curriculum content and practice time throughout the school years and by targeting high-risk adolescents within the program.