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Abstract

In this study we evaluated the smoking habits, beliefs and attitudes of nurse and medical students at the University of Siena and Florence, Italy. Students who entered the 1st year of school in 1998 were asked to complete a self-administered anonymous questionnaire. Two hundred medical students completed the questionnaire; they had a mean age (+/-SD) of 19.8+/-1.7 years and 68% were females. A total of 205 nurse respondents answered to the questionnaire; they had a mean age of 21.8+/-4.1 years and females were 83% of the total. The overall response rate among students always remained higher than 85%. Thirty per cent of medical students were current smokers, and 5% former-smokers. A total of 43% of nurse students were current smokers and 11.5% former-smokers. Nurse students were more likely to smoke than medical students (p = 0.001). Among current smokers, the number of daily cigarettes smoked and the degree of nicotine addiction did not differ between groups. The prevalence of maternal smoking were higher among nurse students. In spite of students' beliefs the knowledge about smoking remained generic in both groups. Nurse students were less aware than medical students of their special responsibility towards people about tobacco smoking. Such a difference remained significant also after adjustment for smoking status (p < 0.01). Students overestimated the prevalence of current smokers among health caregivers of the local hospitals, and Italian people and adolescents. Targeted and continuous training about smoking prevention should be mandatory in Italian medical and nurse schools.

Toxic Habits and Well-Being Measures in Spanish Healthcare University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…These figures were in line with studies of other university populations [ 52 , 53 ], although it is striking that nursing students had a higher frequency of smoking than students of other healthcare degrees (RR, 1.86; 95% CI (1.414–2.454); p < 0.001). This finding was already documented in studies conducted with healthcare students [ 6 , 54 ], as well as among healthcare professionals, with a higher prevalence of smoking among nurses than among physicians [ 55 ]. This also confirms that habits acquired in adolescence have a decisive influence on adult life and that they are perpetuated in many cases [ 11 ].…”

Changes and specificities in health behaviors among healthcare students over an 8-year period

“…Regarding health risks according to curriculum, nursing students were more likely to smoke tobacco than the other healthcare students as already reported [ 52 ]. In our study, the prevalence in tobacco smoking among nursing students did no decrease in contrast with the findings reported by Ordas et al over a 10-year period (30.6% to 19.6%) [ 53 ].…”

Substance abuse amongst the medical graduate students in a developing country

“…Studies done in India 12 13 14 15 and in other countries 16 17 18 19 have revealed similar prevalence and pattern of substance abuse among medical students and other college students 20 . A study from India noted nearly 50 per cent of the undergraduate medical students reporting experiencing stress of variable severity, predisposing to substance abuse 13 .…”