مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Smoking prevalence and views about tobacco law in students of medical school

Abstract :

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine smoking prevalence among first year students attending Erciyes University Medical School and to evaluate their ideas about the law “Prevention and Control of Hazards of Tobacco Products”. Methods: This was a descriptive study conducted in May 2013. The participation rate was 72.5%. A questionnaire including 18 questions was administered to the participants. Socio demographic features, smoking status, addiction perception of smokers and their ideas about the law were asked in the questionnaire. Ethical approval was obtained for the study. Chi square test was used. Results: Out of 200 students 49.0% had tried smoking and 23. 0% has been smoking. 40,6 % of the male and 6.7% of the female students was smoking. There was statistically significant difference between them (fisher exact test, p 0.001). Smoking among students, whose family members also smokers, were higher. The mean starting age to smoking was 16.7±2.0 and stress was the first reason. 84.3 % of the students evaluated smoking as an addiction. 79.0% of the students were considering that the law was partially applied. 60.5% said that tobacco use had decreased with the law and 28.3% said that their usage had also been decreased. Only 38.0% believes that this law interfere personal rights. Conclusion: Half of the students had tried smoking at early ages. Parents were important role models. The majority of the students thought that restrictive laws limit smoking.