Socio-demographic correlates of cigarette smoking among high school students: results from the British Columbia youth survey on smoking and health.

OBJECTIVE To describe the association between selected socio-demographic factors (age, gender, ethnicity, and region) and the prevalence of smoking among adolescents in two regions of British Columbia, and to report recent findings related to the prevalence of tobacco use in British Columbia. METHODS A cross-sectional school-based survey was conducted using a random sample of 3,280 students from 13 schools in two regions of British Columbia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between age, region, gender and ethnicity and smoking status. RESULTS Ethnic group membership was strongly associated with smoking status, which changed very little after controlling for the other socio-demographic factors. Controlling for age and ethnicity, the effect of gender on smoking status was moderated by region. CONCLUSION Reliance on general population tobacco use prevalence rates masks important ethnic and gender differences. To increase the effectiveness of tobacco control policies and programming, greater attention needs to be paid to the socio-demographic correlates associated with adolescents' tobacco use.