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The inexpensive nature of the peak flow rate (PFR)

Elegbeleye, 0. 0. and Femi-Pearse, D. (1976). British Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine, 30, 66-70. Incidence and variables contributing to onset of cigarette smoking among secondary schoolchildren and medical students in Lagos, Nigeria. This paper reports the findings of a survey of smoking habits among secondary schoolchildren and medical students in Lagos, Nigeria. Altogether 40% of boys and 8-4% of girls at secondary school, and 72-4% of men and 22-2% of women at medical school were found to smoke. While the smoking habit of the secondary schoolboys was influenced by the smoking habits of their parents and friends, the smoking habit of the secondary schoolgirls and female medical students was mainly influenced by that of their friends. This study provides a baseline against which future studies on smoking habits in developing African countries may be measured, and the results show that health education on cigarette smoking must start in primary and secondary schools.Cigarette smoking is common in developed countries (Tobacco Research Council, 1967), and diseases associated with cigarette smoking-such as lung cancer, myocardial infarction, and chronic bronchitis-constitute challenging problems in economically developed countries (Doll and Hill, 1952;Oswald and Medvei, 1955; United States Public Health Service, 1972). There have been few reports in the literature about the association between these diseases and cigarette smoking from developing African countries, and these indicate that lung cancer, myocardial infarction, and chronic bronchitis are rare in the African (Femi-Pearse, Adeniyi-Jones, and Oke, 1973; Elegbeleye 1975).Little is known about the smoking habits of schoolchildren in developing African countries, although Arya and Bennett (1969) studied the smoking habits of university students in Uganda. More studies are necessary for epidemiological and comparative purposes, and this has prompted us to study the smoking habits and the variables contributing to the onset of cigarette smoking among secondary schoolchildren and medical students in Nigeria. MATERIAL AND METHODSA total of 2030 secondary schoolchildren and 250 medical students were surveyed. Teams of trained examiners, including the authors of this paper, went to each school. Students were asked to complete detailed questionnaires in the classroom, while the trained examiners offered guidance and read instructions and questions to the pupils. To encourage truthful replies the confidential nature of the inquiry was stressed, and pupils were told not to write their names on the forms. The completed forms were then collected and placed in a sealed envelope by a member of the study group, and students were promised that neither their parents nor their teachers would see them. No attempt was made to obtain information from those who were absent on the day of the survey. Questionnaires were rejected in cases in which the answers were either incomplete or confused. QUESTIONNAIREThe questionnaire was divided into four parts and the subjects...

1. Static and dynamic lung volumes (yC, FEV lo FRC, ERV, RV and TLC) have been determined in 291 adult healthy Nigerians (174 males and 117 females).2. Prediction formulae of various authors on Caucasians and South African Bantu have been applied to the Nigerian data. The results show significantly smaller VC, FEV 1 , FRC, RV, TLC and RV/TLC in Nigerians than in Caucasians. The VC, FEV 1 and FRC of Nigerians were similar to those of South African Bantu.3. ERV values were similar to those previously reported by other authors for Caucasians. The combination of lower RV values and similar ERV indicates the possibility of less 'basal airway closure' in Nigerians.Several investigators have shown the lung volumes of Africans and peoples of African descent to be significantly less than the values for Caucasians when standardized for age and height These findings support the need for each racial or ethnic group to have its own 'normal' standards of pulmonary function. The aim of the present study was to establish 'normal' values for ventilatory functions in Nigerians. A sample of 291 healthy Nigerian adults were studied. All the sub-divisions of total lung capacity were compared with values predicted by formulae previously derived by other authors for Caucasians and for South African Bantu.Whereas the lung volumes of Nigerians are very similar to those of South African Bantu, the present study confirms the differences previously reported by other workers between the lung • This paper forms part of a thesis approved by the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, for the M.D. degree.

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