Tobacco use patterns and tobacco-related awareness in medical students of Delhi

Prevalence of tobacco use, legal awareness and control attitudes among healthcare students, professionals and staff: a multicentric study in India

BACKGROUND

Tobacco use poses a significant global health challenge, particularly within the healthcare sector. This study assessed tobacco use prevalence, legal awareness, control attitudes and the need for greater emphasis on tobacco control in healthcare curricula among professionals, students and staff in Eastern India, specifically in Bihar and Jharkhand.

METHODS

In July and August 2023, an extensive online survey was conducted across 24 tertiary healthcare institutions involving medical, dental and nursing students, as well as faculty, resident physicians, nursing professionals and support staff.

RESULTS

The study revealed that 15.9% of participants currently use tobacco, with 9.6% reporting daily use. Notably, non-users demonstrated higher awareness of tobacco-related laws compared to users. Multifactor logistic regression analysis identified several determinants of tobacco use including age, sex, marital status, occupation, family income and geographic origin. A significant finding was that less knowledge about tobacco laws correlated strongly with higher rates of tobacco use. Furthermore, regional variations were observed, with a lower prevalence of tobacco use in participants from southern states.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings underscore the necessity of integrating comprehensive tobacco education into healthcare curricula and reinforcing awareness campaigns to effectively mitigate tobacco use within this critical sector.

Tobacco use, secondhand exposure and knowledge of secondhand and third-hand smoke among medical college students in Western Nepal: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of tobacco use, secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure and knowledge about SHS and third-hand smoke (THS) exposure among students in a medical college in Western Nepal.

DESIGN

This is a cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Data collection was done from 8 July 2023 to 8 August 2023 in a medical college in Nepal.

PARTICIPANTS

This study was conducted on undergraduate students studying in a medical college in Western Nepal using a census (whole population) sampling technique.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Prevalence of tobacco use was assessed by asking a question, 'Did you use tobacco products within the last 30 days?'. Secondhand smoke exposure and knowledge about SHS and THS exposure were assessed by using structured questionnaires. The χ2 test was used to compare the group exposed and non-exposed to tobacco, SHS and THS by sociodemographic variables (sex, residence, year of study and academic stream).

RESULTS

The response rate was 96.43% (n=595/617). The overall prevalence of tobacco use was found to be 16.30%. A total of 88.83% of students from clinical years knew about SHS which was more than preclinical students (p <0.001). The Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery students have higher knowledge of SHS as compared with others (p =0.003). More than 95% of students favoured banning smoking in public places. Nearly half of the participants (45.45%) experienced SHS exposure in the last 7 days. More than half proportion of the clinical students knew about THS, which was higher than preclinical students and interns (p <0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Tobacco use prevalence among the participants was found to be lower in comparison to other studies including medical students in several Asian countries. Despite more than three-fourths of students knowing the harmful effects of SHS exposure, almost one-half of them were exposed to SHS. The proportion of students who knew about THS exposure was comparably lower.