The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: The desire to acquire promotional articles of the tobacco companies (receptivity) is a risk factor to become an established smoker. There is a possibility that the perception of sexual content in tobacco advertising (PSC) may be part of that desire and act as an additional risk factor. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of receptivity and PSC in the smoking process.

Methods: In 1998, 1186 high school students were surveyed in order to determine their receptivity and PSC. After three years, 303 of them were followed through a telephone interview in order to correlate the current smoking status with the previously recorded antecedent of receptivity and PSC.

Results: Sixty two percent of the subjects were receptive and 78% perceived some kind of sexual content in the advertising. Both receptivity and PSC were significantly associated to the probability of becoming an ES [RR 2.36 (95%CI 2.36-1.18) and RR 2.56 (1.02-6.42) respectively]. Conclusions Receptivity and PSC are independent risk factors for teenagers to become established smokers.