Cigarette smoking among Iranian medical students, resident physicians and attending physicians

Objective: This research assessed the prevalence of cigarette smoking among Iranian medical students, resident physicians and attending physicians. Method: Subjects (532 males and females) were selected randomly from Shiraz university of medical sciences and were administered by a questionnaire. Findings: Of the participants 16.79 % of males and 0.69 % of females were smokers. Of the medical students, 18.48 % of students, 12.5 % of pre-externship students, 7.19 % of externship students and 16.95 % of internship students were smokers. Of esi resident physicians 11.11 % were smokers. Among attending physicians 7.57% were smokers. The most common causes of current cigarette smoking were need (avoid withdrawl symptoms), pleasurable purposes and release of tension, respectively. Foreign filter-tipped cigarette was the most common type of cigarette used. The mean of cigarette per day was 6.29 cigarettes and the mean age of starting cigarette was 19.71 years.