Consumo de tabaco en estudiantes de sexto curso de medicina de España

Mental Health Disturbances and Related Problems in Italian University Medical Students from 2000 to 2020: An Integrative Review of Qualitative and Quantitative Studies

Background and objectives: The presence of mental health problems in the population of medical students in Italy has been evaluated in several cross-sectional studies, which have used different methodologies and study designs. However, a global overview of the prevalence of mental health problems in Italian medical students is not available, although this would be essential for promoting preventive strategies and supportive treatments. Materials and Methods: An integrative review aiming to describe the prevalence of mental health problems in Italian medical students has been performed. Results: The most relevant findings are the high prevalence of substance use, in particular alcohol and nicotine, and of depressive and anxiety disorders in Italian medical students. In particular, substance use ranges from 13 to 86%, which is higher compared to Italian students coming from other faculties. Italian medical students show a high rate of smoking and of depressive symptoms of about 20%. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the need to develop appropriate supportive interventions for the medical student population, which are rarely provided and implemented among the routine activities of Italian medical universities. A relevant aspect to be considered is the stigma and anticipated discrimination attached to mental disorders, which reduce the help-seeking process in medical students.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical students regarding smoking and substance abuse, Cairo University, Egypt

Background

Involving medical personnel in all aspects of smoking control in the community is indispensable. In a trial to enhance the participation of healthcare professionals in smoking cessation activities, this study was conducted to evaluate knowledge, behavior, and attitude of medical school students regarding smoking and substance abuse. Perception of their future role “as physicians” in combating smoking and substance abuse was also explored.

Subjects and methods

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. A self-administered questionnaire based on standardized questionnaires prepared by the World Health Organization covering sections about knowledge, beliefs, and practices of the students regarding smoking and substance abuse was submitted to 296 students enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine of Cairo University, during the academic year 2014–2015.

Results

Most of the participants had correct knowledge about health hazards of smoking, where 83.4–93.6% correctly selected the answers, but still stated that they are in need for courses about this issue. Positive attitudes were also expressed towards smoking legislations and tobacco control policies. Cigarette and shisha smoking, bango, and addictive medications abuse were low among the studied group (13.5, 15.2, 2, 3–6.4%, respectively).

Conclusion and recommendations

The prevalence of smoking and substance abuse was relatively low among Cairo University medical students who had generally correct knowledge about the hazards of these practices and positive attitude towards their future role in helping their patients to quit. It may be appropriate to train students about stress management skills through organizing regular “stress coping strategies” sessions to assist them to cope with various stressors and consider implementing counseling programs to support students, especially medical students and the future doctors, who have a leading role in combating smoking and substance abuse in the community.

Prevalence of tobacco consumption among young physicians at a regional university hospital in southern Spain: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION

The aim of the study is to analyse the prevalence of smoking among resident physicians at a regional university hospital. In addition, we examined the trends in the smoking behaviour of physicians in relation to results obtained in other studies carried out previously at this hospital, as well as those published nationally and internationally METHOD: A cross-sectional observational study evaluating tobacco consumption in young physicians was carried out at the level of secondary healthcare in a regional university hospital in Cordoba, Spain. All the study subjects were resident physicians who underwent a mandatory preliminary occupational health examination between 2012 and 2016. There was no sampling selection as anyone who took this examination was considered to be within the target population. We calculated the proportions of smokers, former smokers and non-smokers, with 95% CIs. Univariate and multivariate analyses (binary logistic regression) were used to analyse the results (P<0.05).

RESULTS

The response rate was 99.4%, with a sample size of 324 out of a possible 326 physicians. The average age was 28.6±3.7-DT-(95% CI 28.2 to 29.0), and 62.3% (202/324; 95% CI 57.3 to 67.2) were women. Smoking prevalence was 6.5% (21/324; 95% CI 3.5 to 9.3) with a further 5.2% (17/324; 95% CI 2.7 to 7.8) being ex-smokers. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of tobacco consumption according to age (P=0.266), sex (9.0% for men and 5.0% for women; P=0.128), medical specialty (P=0.651) or year of residency (P=0.975). A 52.7% decline in the number of young physician smokers was noted between 1986 and 2016 (95% CI -44.0 to -63.5), together with a 64.4% increase in non-smokers (95% CI 55.2 to 77.3).

CONCLUSIONS

We observed a significantly low prevalence of tobacco use among trainee physicians in the cohort, an effect of new antismoking laws, with positive role model implications for new physicians and medical students.

Attitudes of students of a health sciences university towards the extension of smoke-free policies at the university campuses of Barcelona (Spain)

OBJECTIVE

To assess attitudes towards the extension of outdoor smoke-free areas on university campuses.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study (n=384) conducted using a questionnaire administered to medical and nursing students in Barcelona in 2014. Information was obtained pertaining to support for indoor and outdoor smoking bans on university campuses, and the importance of acting as role models. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine agreement.

RESULTS

Most of the students agreed on the importance of health professionals and students as role models (74.9% and 64.1%, respectively) although there were statistically significant differences by smoking status and age. 90% of students reported exposure to smoke on campus. Students expressed strong support for indoor smoke-free policies (97.9%). However, only 39.3% of participants supported regulation of outdoor smoking for university campuses. Non-smokers (OR=12.315; 95% CI: 5.377-28.204) and students ≥22 years old (OR=3.001; 95% CI: 1.439-6.257) were the strongest supporters.

CONCLUSIONS

The students supported indoor smoke-free policies for universities. However, support for extending smoke-free regulations to outdoor areas of university campuses was limited. It is necessary to educate students about tobacco control and emphasise their importance as role models before extending outdoor smoke-free legislation at university campuses.

The influence of medical student gender and drug use on the detection of addiction in patients

Little is known about medical students' interest in their training on drug addiction, their personal experience of consumption, and whether these aspects influence the detection of addiction in patients. Eighty-eight and one half percent considered that drug dependence issues are important to their professional future. The students report consuming alcohol (69%), cigarettes (19.5%), and illegal drugs (15.8%). Female students consumed fewer illegal drugs than the men (p =.022). Male students consumed more illegal drugs more frequently (p =.005), knew more consumers (p =.023), and those who drink alcohol consumed more illegal drugs than women who drink alcohol (p <.005). Drug and alcohol consumption among medical students may serve to normalize consumption and thus, may prevent the detection of addicts. It is important to educate and raise awareness about drugs and alcohol use, as this may influence detection. The focus should be particularly on the male group.

Prevalence and attitude towards smoking in first, third and fifth-year pharmacy students in Spain: PRECOTABAC study

AIM OF THIS STUDY

The aim of this study is to calculate smoking prevalence among first, third and fifth-year pharmacy students in Spain, and to describe their attitude towards giving up smoking.

METHODS

Cross-sectional multi-center study using an ad hoc self-administered questionnaire in first, third and fifth-year pharmacy students at seven Spanish universities. Bivariate analysis with chi-square and Student's t-test, statistical significance p<0.05.

RESULTS

Smoking prevalence: 34.92%. The smokers smoke 31.04 (SD=43.182) cigarettes/week on average. Pharmacy students have a positive attitude towards giving up smoking, with differences between year groups (p=0.036).

CONCLUSIONS

Four in ten pharmacy students in Spain smoke every day by the time they finish their degree. Smoking prevalence is lower in the first few years of the degree and increases over time. Students also have a positive attitude towards giving up smoking, and are in favor of measures that can be taken to try to stop people smoking.

Lifestyle and health among Spanish university students: differences by gender and academic discipline

Today the need to analyze health behaviour from a gender perspective is as imminent as ever, particularly at university, where the number of women who register is on the rise and has exceeded the number of male students worldwide. We carried out a prevalence study aimed at analyzing Spanish university students’ lifestyles and identify differences according to gender and academic discipline. Of 3,646 eligible subjects doing university courses related to health (Group A), education (Group B) and other professions (Group C), 985 (27.0%) participated in the study. Information was elicited about their physical activity level, disturbed eating attitudes, consumption of alcohol, tobacco and illegal substances. Prevalence and Odds Ratios (OR) were calculated according to sex and kind of academic discipline. The obtained data confirmed that only 27.4% of the students were considered as sufficiently active, while 14.9% of them suffered from disturbed eating attitudes (DEA). Women were particularly less active (OR 0.46 (0.32–0.66); p < 0.0001), and more sedentary than men (OR 1.40 (1.00–1.97); p = 0.03). Binge drinking was more frequent in female than in male students (OR 1.79 (1.29–2.47); p = 0.0004). A third of the analyzed sample admitted that they had used illegal substances, while a lower consumption prevalence was found in women (OR 0.53 (0.40–0.71); p < 0.0001). The studied population was not very active (27.4%), especially women (OR = 0.45). Therefore, it seems that Spanish university students lead an unhealthy lifestyle, a situation which seems more conspicuous amongst females.

Dental health behaviour in relation to caries status among medical and dental undergraduate students of Udaipur district, India

OBJECTIVE

To compare the caries status and oral hygiene behaviour of dental and medical students and to assess the influence of oral hygiene behaviour on the caries status.

METHODS

A questionnaire survey was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour along with clinical examination to asses the caries status. A total of 403 dental and medical students enrolled with Rajasthan University of Health Sciences of Udaipur district, India were recruited in the study.

RESULTS

56.4% of dental students brushed their teeth twice daily compared to 38.5% of medical students. There was no significant difference between the mean decayed components of males and females of dental stream, whereas among medical subjects, males had a higher decayed score than females (P = 0.012). The mean behaviour score obtained by dental students (19.38) was greater than that of medical students (18.34). Moreover, medical students presented a higher decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) score (1.96) than dental students (1.16). Subjects who had a habit of brushing after every meal showed lower DMFT score (1.4) than those who brushed only once a day (1.64). Step-wise linear regression analysis revealed that course of education and final behaviour score were the best predictors for the DMFT status.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed significant differences between the oral hygiene behaviour and caries status of dental and medical students; furthermore, caries status was significantly influenced by the oral hygiene behaviour.

Faculty development in tobacco cessation: training health professionals and promoting tobacco control in developing countries

ISSUES

Cessation programs are essential components of comprehensive tobacco control. Health-care providers, especially physicians, have major responsibility for role modeling and promoting cessation. For successful, sustainable cessation training programs, countries need health-care professionals with knowledge and skills to deliver and teach tobacco cessation.

APPROACH

Review literature relevant to faculty development in tobacco cessation and discuss its strategic potential in tobacco control.

KEY FINDINGS

Faculty development is essential for sustainable tobacco cessation training programs, and a potentially powerful strategy to shift professional and societal norms towards cessation and support of comprehensive tobacco control in countries with normative tobacco use and underdeveloped tobacco control programs.

IMPLICATIONS

Medical faculty are in a key position to influence tobacco cessation and control programs because of their roles as educators and researchers, receptivity to innovation and, influence on competencies and standards for medical education and practice. Faculty development programs must consider the number and type of faculty, and tobacco cessation curricula needed. Faculty development fosters the ability to institutionalise cessation education for students and community practitioners. Academic faculty are often leaders in their professional disciplines, influential in establishing clinical practice standards, and technical experts for government and other key health organisations.

CONCLUSION

Training health-care professional faculty to become knowledgeable and committed to tobacco cessation opens opportunities to promote cessation and shift professional and societal norms away from tobacco use.

[Smoking among nursing and physical therapy students of the University of the Balearic Islands: opinions on regulation of smoking in public places]

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the prevalence, opinions and attitudes of nursing and physical therapy students at the University of the Balearic Islands toward smoking in public places and the influence of regulatory policies.

METHOD

We performed a cross-sectional, descriptive, observational study using a self-administered questionnaire. The survey was designed to evaluate opinions on and the degree of agreement with smoking and regulatory policies on this issue. The assessment was performed using Likert scales. The survey was offered to all students attending class in the core subject with the greatest number of enrolled students on a normal academic day between February 15 and March 15, 2006. We calculated 95% confidence intervals for proportions. The Chi square test was used to compare qualitative variables and Student's t-test was used for quantitative variables.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 345 students, 82.2% of whom were women. The mean age was 21.9 years. The prevalence of regular smokers was 26.1% (26.9% among women and 22.6% among men). Almost all (93.8%) of the respondents agreed that smoking should be banned in closed spaces in educational institutions and 70.9% believed that the law should be complied with at the University of the Balearic Islands, with differences between 2003 and 2006.

CONCLUSIONS

Smoking was less prevalent in our population than in the general regional and national populations, as well as in other Spanish nursing students of the same age and gender. The prevalence of occasional smokers has fallen since 2003. Most students had a favorable view of the new Smoking Prevention Act.

The incidence of smoking and risk factors for smoking initiation in medical faculty students: cohort study

BACKGROUND

Medical education requires detailed investigation because it is a period during which the attitudes and behaviors of physicians develop. The purpose of this study was to calculate the yearly smoking prevalence and incidence rates of medical faculty students and to identify the risk factors for adopting smoking behaviour.

METHODS

This is a cohort study in which every student was asked about their smoking habits at the time of first registration to the medical faculty, and was monitored every year. Smoking prevalence, yearly incidence of initiation of smoking and average years of smoking were calculated in analysis.

RESULTS

At the time of registration, 21.8% of the students smoked. At the end of six years, males had smoked for an average of 2.6 +/- 3.0 years and females for 1.0 +/- 1.8 years (p < 0.05). Of the 93 medical students who were not smokers at the time of registration, 30 (32.3%) were smokers at the end of the 6 years of the course.

CONCLUSION

The first 3 years of medical education are the most risky period for initiation of smoking. We found that factors such as being male, having a smoking friend in the same environment and having a high trait anxiety score were related to the initiation of smoking. Targeted smoking training should be mandatory for students in the Medical Faculty.