L. Hancock et al., The effect of a community action intervention on adolescent smoking rates in rural Australian towns: The CART project, PREV MED, 32(4), 2001, pp. 332-340
Background. This paper describes one outcome of a randomized controlled tri
al of community action for cancer prevention, Cancer Action in Rural Towns.
The aims are to [1] explore the effectiveness of community action in decre
asing adolescent smoking in rural Australian towns; and [2] describe the re
lationship between adolescent smoking rates and demographic variables.
Methods. In 1992, 20 rural Australian towns were selected. Community action
involved formation of community committees and utilization of access-point
networks to initiate and maintain intervention strategies. Cross-sectional
surveys of smoking behaviors for all Year 9 and Year 10 students (13-16 ye
ars) in each town were conducted pre- and posttest. The main outcome measur
e was self-reported smoking in the past 4 weeks. SUDAAN software was used t
o look at differences between treatment.
Results. The results showed strong secular trends toward increased adolesce
nt smoking, regardless of treatment group, particularly for females. There
was no significant intervention effect.
Conclusions. Increasing adolescent smoking rates found in this and other st
udies highlight that the definitive strategy to stem the adolescent smoking
epidemic has not been found. Hope may remain for recent legislative strate
gies, but rigorous evaluation is essential, and compliance with legislation
should be carefully monitored. (C) 2001 American Wealth Foundation and Aca
demic Press.