SynthesisPloS one2018
Systematic review of school tobacco prevention programs in African countries from 2000 to 2016.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence, trends and distribution of lifestyle cancer risk factors in Uganda: a 20-year systematic review.BMC cancer · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Intervention Increases Physical Activity and Healthful Diet Among South African Adolescents Over 54 Months: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2019Trial
- Mediation analysis investigating the mechanisms of two school-based smoking prevention interventions in adolescents from Northern Ireland and Bogotá.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Tobacco Control Interventions in Nigeria from 2012 to 2022: A Blueprint to Reduce Smoking Prevalence: A Systematic Review.Iranian journal of public health · 2025Review
- Moderators of peer influence effects for adolescents' smoking and vaping norms and outcomes in high and middle-income settings.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- School-based smoking prevention strategies for adolescents in a conservative LMIC context: a qualitative study from Egypt.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Association between socio-economic status and non-communicable disease risk in young adults from Kenya, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Effectiveness of school-based interventions for preventing tobacco smoking initiation among young people in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol.Systematic reviews · 2022Article
- FOCUS ON TOBACCO PREVENTION AMONG NON-SMOKING ADOLESCENTS IN AFRICA; A CALL TO TOBACCO CONTROL EXPERTS.Annals of Ibadan postgraduate medicine · 2021Article
- Mega-map of systematic reviews and evidence and gap maps on the interventions to improve child well-being in low- and middle-income countries.Campbell systematic reviews · 2020Article
- Exploring smoking cessation behaviors of outpatients in outpatient clinics: Application of the transtheoretical model.Medicine · 2020Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe World Bank has reported that global smoking rates declined from 2000 to 2012, with the only exception found in males in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is considered to be in stage one of the tobacco epidemic continuum. To address this problem, school-based programs for smoking prevention are considered cost-effective and promising. Since tobacco prevention programs are influenced by social competence or customs of each country, tobacco prevention programs that have success in Western countries are not always effective in African countries. Therefore, the current study systematically reviewed relevant literature to examine the effects of these types of programs in African countries.
methodOnline bibliographic databases and a hand search were used. We included the studies that examined the impact of school-based programs on preventing tobacco use in Africa from 2000 to 2016.
resultsSix articles were selected. Four were conducted in South Africa and two were performed in Nigeria. Four programs were systematically incorporated into annual curriculums, targeting 8th to 9th graders, while the other two were temporary programs. All programs were based on the hypothesis that providing knowledge and/or social skills against smoking would be helpful. All studies utilized smoking or polydrug use rates to compare outcomes before/after intervention. There were no significant differences between intervention and control groups in three studies, with the other three demonstrating only partial effectiveness. Additionally, three studies also examined change of knowledge/attitudes towards smoking as an outcome. Two of these showed significant differences between groups.
conclusionAll RCTs studies showed no significant change of smoking-rate by the intervention. The effectiveness of intervention was observed only in some sub-group. The cohort studies showed school-based interventions may be effective in improving knowledge and attitudes about smoking. However, they reported no significant change of smoking-rate by the intervention.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.