Tabagismo em amostra de adolescentes escolares de Salvador-Bahia

background: most tobacco users become addicted during adolescence. in brazil, smoking prevalence among teenagers varies from 1% to 35%. objective: to estimate the prevalence of smoking among teenagers, aged from 13 to 20, in fundamental and high school in salvador, bahia, brazil. method: cross-sectional exploratory study. thirty five hundred questionnaires were applied to students at fundamental and high school in five schools at the metropolitan region of salvador (ba). statistical analysis: descriptive and associative measurements (prevalence rate), student's t and qui-square tests. results: smoking prevalence among teenagers in salvador (ba) was 9.6%, considering 3,180 valid questionnaires. the frequency was higher in males (14%) than in females (6%). the prevalence increased with age. the mean age ± sd for tobacco initiation was 14 ± 2 years. among the teenagers, 46% tried cigarettes, and 20% became addicted. the frequency was higher among teenagers whose parents were smokers. the mean ± sd number of daily cigarettes smoked by adolescent tobacco users (n = 132) was 7.4 (± 6.4) units per day, with a higher frequency among boys. conclusion: smoking prevalence in a selected set of adolescent students in salvador (ba) was 9.6%, and it was higher among males. parental smoking and cigarette experimentation were the major factor found to be associated to tobacco addiction among teenagers.