THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPORTS PARTICIPATION AND CIGARETTE SMOKING IN ADOLESCENTS; PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF A PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY
This prospective cohort study aimed to define gender-specific relationships that exist between participation in sports and smoking among older adolescents. The sample comprised 414 adolescents (270 females) from Bosnia and Herzegovina who were 16–17 years old at the baseline. The participants were tested over four occasions (T1, T2, T3 and T4), each divided by six months. The first test (T1) was performed at the beginning of the participants’ 3rd grade of high-school, while the last test (T4) was done at the end of their high-school education. A previously validated structured questionnaire was used to define participants’ involvement in sports and the prevalence of cigarette smoking. Although the odds ratio (OR) varied between time points, sports participation was found to be generally protective against cigarette smoking in males (T1: OR=3.83; 95%CI:1.89-7.09, T2: OR=1.31; 95%CI:0.76-2.67, T3: OR=2.72; 95%CI:1.35-5.50, T4: OR=1.41; 95%CI:0.71-2.81) and females (T1: OR=1.32; 95%CI:0.72-2.44, T2: OR=2.64; 95%CI:1.076.32, T3: OR=2.02; 95%CI:0.89-4.56, T4: OR=2.07; 95%CI:1.13-3.77). Trends over time revealed that smoking initiation preceded adolescent males quitting sports. No such association was evident for adolescent females.