Tobacco Smoking and Associated Factors among In-school Adolescents in Vietnam in 2013, 2019

Tobacco smoking is one of the most dangerous risk behaviors, leading to many adverse human health consequences. The aims of this study is to estimate the prevalence of tobacco smoking and related factor among adolescents aged 13–17 years in Vietnam. The data were from two rounds of the Vietnam Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) that is the nationally representative survey conducted in 2013 and 2019. The logistic regressions were carried out to identify factors associated with tobacco smoking among study participants. We found the prevalence of current smoking (water pipe and cigarettes) reduced significantly from 5.4% (95% CI: 4.0–7.2) in 2013 to 2.8% (95% CI: 2.2–3.6) in 2019. In 2019, 2.6% of students used electronic cigarette products in the last 30 days. Factors associated with higher odds of current smoking status included study year, gender, parental monitoring, loneliness, suicide attempt, sexual intercourse, truancy, alcohol drinking. Similar patterns were found in e-cigarette use. Smoking among adolescents in Vietnam reduced between 2013 and 2019. Further follow-up studies are needed to confirm the causal factors of the reduction and e-cigarettes use.