CHANGES IN SMOKING PREVALENCE FOLLOWING A STRICT NO-SMOKING POLICY INUS NAVY RECRUIT TRAINING

This study examined 449 U.S. Navy recruits who reported that they were current smokers upon entering Navy recruit training, Recruits were pr ohibited from using tobacco for the duration of the 8 weeks of basic t raining, Participants completed tobacco surveys at entry into the Navy , upon graduation from recruit training, and after 1 year of service, Forty percent of the smokers at entry into the Navy changed their clas sification to former smokers at the end of recruit training, At the 1- year follow-up, 19% of the initial smokers classified themselves as fo rmer smokers, Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that having a higher intent to quit was predictive of reporting oneself as a former smoker at recruit training graduation. Smoking fewer cigaret tes per day at entry into the Navy and more years of regular tobacco u se were predictive of reporting oneself as a former smoker at the 1-ye ar follow-up, Findings from this study suggested a meaningful impact o f the Navy's no-smoking policy during recruit training in reducing smo king prevalence.