Background
: Although smoking hazards are acknowledged worldwide, recent study of Korean teenage smokers shows that students' first smoking experiences are occurring at younger ages. Therefore, we have developed an internet-based smoking prevention program, and assessed the effectiveness of the self-administered internet program by comparing with traditional lecture.

Methods : Between April and June of 2004, 463 female eighth-grade students at a middle school were divided into two groups. One group (n=252) received the lecture-based smoking prevention education by an expert, while the other group (n=212) learned themselves via the internet program. Prior to both smoking prevention programs, the students filled out questionnaires about their basic information. One month after their education, the students were tested on the information included in the programs without prior notice and filled out another questionnaire on the level of comprehension, satisfaction and other factors.

Results : According to the pre-education questionnaire, the percentage of current smoking rate was 2.8%, and the first smoking experience was largely between the sixth and seventh grades. When comparing the scores of self-administered internet education with that of the lecture, the mean scores were 56.7 and 57.8, respectively, which was not significantly different (P=.267). The survey on comprehension, satisfaction, and other factors did not show any significant difference between the two groups.

Conclusion : There was no significant difference between the internet-based program and the lecture-based one, in terms of effectiveness as well as comprehension, satisfaction, and other factors. Considering that the internet-based program is not restricted by time or location, it will no doubt be an effective tool in teenage smoking prevention programs.