Cigarette smoking among medical students in China and modifiable risk factors for smoking prevention

Abstract

PurposeThe reduction of tobacco use among medical students is a potentially powerful strategy to reduce tobacco use among future health professionals, who in turn, can have significant impact on tobacco use among patients as well as the general population in China. The goal of this study is to update information on the prevalence of cigarette smoking among Chinese medical students and to assess modifiable factors for smoking reduction.Design/methodology/approachPresented in the paper are descriptive, associative and path model analyses of survey data collected among 758 medical students in year one through year three from Hainan Medical College, Hainan, China.FindingsAmong the total 758 participants, 66.9 percent of males and 26 percent of females smoked and 26.5 percent of males and 1.6 percent of females had smoked in the past 30 days. The median monthly expenditure on cigarettes was 30 Chinese Yuan (approximately US$4.25). The likelihood of smoking increased with male gender, more advanced year group, poor academic performance, perceived peer smoking, and depressive symptoms, after controlling for covariates.Originality/valueFindings reported in this study provide further insight into the smoking prevalence among medical students in China as well as adding to knowledge about several potentially modifiable factors that are related to smoking. Data collected in this study are likely to prove valuable in prioritizing tobacco control among Chinese medical students, as they are future medical doctors, and their smoking behaviors will have strong influence on their patients as well as the general public.

Helping smokers quit: behaviours and attitudes of Chinese Registered Nurses

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“…26 In Europe, it ranges from 3.8 % in Wales 27 to 22.1 % in Germany 28 ; in Asia, from 2.1 % in Thailand 29 to 66.9 % among Chinese men. 30 Among Latin American countries, it was estimated that 16.9 % of Brazilian Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11606-016-3890-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. medical students were current smokers, while this proportion was reported to be 41.1 % in Bolivia.…”

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