Knowledge, attitude and practice of tobacco smoking by medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Tobacco consumption is associated with considerable negative impact on health. Health professionals, including future doctors, should have a leading role in combating smoking in the community.OBJECTIVES:The aims of the study were to assess the prevalence of smoking among medical students of newly established medical colleges in Riyadh city, the capital of Saudi Arabia, as well as to assess students' attitude, practice and their knowledge on the risk factors of tobacco consumption.METHODS:A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study of students from two medical colleges in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was carried out. The questionnaire used was anonymous, self-administered and developed mainly from Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS).RESULTS:A total of 215 students participated in this study. Forty students (19%) indicated that they smoke tobacco at the time of the study. All of them were males, which raise the prevalence among male students to 24%. Tobacco smoking was practiced by males more than females (P value <0.0001) and by senior more than junior students (<0.0001). About 94% of the study sample indicated that smoking could cause serious illnesses. About 90% of the students indicated that they would advice their patients to quit smoking in the future and 88% thought that smoking should be banned in public areas. Forty-four students (20%) thought that smoking has some beneficial effects, mainly as a coping strategy for stress alleviation.CONCLUSION:Despite good knowledge about the hazards of tobacco consumption, about 25% of the medical students in this study continue to smoke. The main reported reasons should be addressed urgently by policy-makers. Special efforts should be taken to educate medical students on the effective strategies in managing stress during their study as they thought that tobacco smoking could be used as a coping strategy to face such a stress.

Perception on the Relationship between Cancer and Usage of Tobacco and Alcohol in Hail, Saudi Arabia

“…Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that factors independently associated with smoking were lower socio-economic status, lower education, being divorced and occupations such as the military and selfemployed. On the other hand another tobacco survey conducted in two medical schools in Riyadh [4] showed that 19% of the male students have smoked tobacco at the time of the study which raises the prevalence among male students to 24%. And they mentioned that tobacco smoking was practiced by males more than females (p value <0.0001) and by senior more than junior students (<0.0001).…”

“…Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world [4]. Now a days, the mortality due to tobacco smoking has been estimated to be more than 5 million deaths annually which is expected to double by 2020.…”

“…Now a days, the mortality due to tobacco smoking has been estimated to be more than 5 million deaths annually which is expected to double by 2020. This significant impact is not only due to morbidity and mortality, but also attributed to the social and the economic cost of smoking [4]. Reports have indicated that the real impact of tobacco smoking could be underestimated because of high level of exposure of "secondhand" smoke, increased smoking among youths and the increase in smoking among non-smokers [5].…”

Tobacco smoking among nursing students in Saudi Arabia: A descriptive correlational study

“…[28] In a study assessed the prevalence and knowledge of smoking among female medical students in comparison to female non-medical students in a governmental university in Saudi Arabia, [25] the prevalence of smoking was higher in nonmedical female students (4.2%) compared to medical female students (0.32%). Among Saudi male and female medical students, Al-Haqwi et al [24] conducted a study to assess the prevalence of smoking and the attitudes and practices as well as their knowledge on the risk factors of tobacco consumption. They found that 19% indicated that they smoke tobacco.…”

“…[10,11] Several international research studies examined tobacco use among college students. [7,9,10,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] In Saudi Arabia, two studies investigated tobacco use among medical college students [24,25] and one study targeted dental students. [26] One study published in the previous century [27] explored the knowledge and attitude toward smoking among nursing and medical laboratory technology students and interns.…”