Smoking Status among Medical Students of Near East University in Nicosia

BACKGROUND/AIMS The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the tobacco prevalence status of Near East University (NEU) Medical school students and to investigate the associations of tobacco use with medical education and other related factors. MATERIAL and METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted among all the multinational medical students of NEU in February 2018. A questionnaire was administered to the students under direct observation. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 18.0.0 software (IBM Corp.; Armonk, NY, USA). A p value <0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS The study targeted all the medical students attending medical school in the educational year 2017-2018. Of a total of 1371 medical students, 1154 (84.2%) were included in the study, of which 48.9% were males and 51.1% were females. Current smokers were 33.7% with 26.5% daily smokers. Lifetime smoking was 40.7% with the inclusion of former smokers. Of the 1154 students, 42.1% and 25.8% were male and female smokers, respectively. There was a significant difference between the two genders, with males smoking more. Regarding admission to medical school, there was a significant difference between the genders, with smoking initiation of women being higher than that of men during medical education. Of the male smokers, 61% had started smoking before admission to medical school. A comparison of the countries of origin revealed a significantly higher frequency of smoking among Turkish Republic citizens than all other country citizens. CONCLUSION Smoking prevalence among medical students was found to be high, with males smoking significantly more than females. Medical education did not appear to influence the smoking status of medical students, taking into account the high frequency similar to other university students. Earlier and more efficient tobacco control and cessation education and interventions are needed throughout medical education for better role model doctors for the community in the future.