Abstract

CAMPO-ARIAS, Adalberto et al. Consumo de cigarrillo y síntomas depresivos en estudiantes de Bucaramanga, Colombia. Arch. argent. pediatr. [online]. 2007, vol.105, n.1, pp.12-16. ISSN 0325-0075.

Introduction. It has been found that an important number of adolescent smokers shows clinically significant depressive symptoms; however, the association between smoking and depressive symptoms have not been assessed in students from Bucamaranga, Colombia. Objective. To establish the association between cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms in high school students. Population, materials and methods. A random sample of five hundred and sixty students from four schools, from 15 to 19 years, answered an anonymous survey that included Zung's depression scale, CAGE questionnaire for alcohol intake and VESPA questionnaire. Binomial regression was used to establish the power of the association. Results. The current prevalence of cigarette smoking was of 17.3%, while the prevalence of clinically relevant depressive symptoms was of 39.5%. A significant association between cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms (PR 1.91, 95% CI 1.16-3.14), alcohol intake pattern suggesting alcohol dependence (PR 2.52, 95% CI 1.12-5.68), alcohol or cigarette use by the best friend(PR 6.13, 95% CI 3.48-10.81), and male gender (PR 3.01, 95% CI 1.75-5.16) was found. Conclusions. Cigarette smoking is significantly associated with self-reported clinically relevant depressive symptoms in adolescents students. It is necessary to prevent cigarette smoking initiation and to establish a causal relationship between smoking and depressive disorders among Colombian adolescents.

Keywords : Smoking; Depressive symptoms; Prevalence; Adolescents; Students.

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