Prevalence of Smoking among Medical Students in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Tobacco smoking is one of the most important preventable risk factors for noncommunicable diseases. It has been seen that medical students have a higher frequency of smokingcompared to the general population. This study aims to determine the prevalence of smoking amongthird-year medical students in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Nepal.
 Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among the hospital’s third-yearundergraduate medical students over a four-month period (October 2019 to January 2020). Ethicalclearance was received from the Institutional Review Committee of Kathmandu Medical Collegeand Teaching Hospital. The whole sampling technique was used to collect data. The Global HealthProfessional Students Survey questionnaire was used to collect data. Data analysis was done in thestatistical package for social sciences.
 Results: The prevalence of current smoking among selected medical students of Kathmandu MedicalCollege and Teaching Hospital is 34 (30.1%), majority male 26 (23%). Fifty-six (49.4%) of them hadever smoked cigarettes in their life, and 27 (23.9%) had their first cigarette in late adolescence. Thenumber of students who used other forms of tobacco was comparatively lower i.e. 6 (5.3%). Manyof the students 53 (46.9%) were exposed to second-hand smoke both at home and in public, while 18(15.9) exposed only at public places, and 6 (5.3%) only at home.
 Conclusions: Our study has concluded that there is a notable prevalence of smoking among theparticipants. This points to the need for specific training sessions in their clinical years about smokingcessation for themselves and regarding counseling for patients.

Tobacco Use and Its Associated Factors among Undergraduate Public Health Students in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

“…Males were more likely to be a current smoker as compared to females. Studies conducted among health professional students in Nepal [12], China [21], and Lao PDR [9] have reported similar findings. Smoking can be considered as part of a constellation of risk-taking behaviors that are more prevalent among men.…”

“…However, this rate is higher than the study conducted among health professional students in Chitwan, Nepal [16]. e prevalence of current other tobacco products such as chewing tobacco, sniffs, bidis, hookah, cigars, and pipes is 11.7% which is higher than the prevalence reported in several studies conducted across Nepal and India among health professional students [12,16,18].…”

“…Health Professions Student Survey (GHPSS) questionnaire, a validated tool for screening smoking among university students [12], was used for this study, which was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Canadian Public Health Association [13].…”

Tobacco use and its associated factors among Bachelor’s level public health students of Koshi Province

“…In the present study the prevalence of current cigarette smoking was 14.1% which is similar to the Nepal STEPS survey 2019 for Tabacco use among adults (14.5%) 19 . However, the finding was slight lower than the study done among undergraduate public health students of Kathmandu valley (16.8%) 20 and the study conducted among health professional students in Chitwan (16.3%) 17 .The prevalence of ever smoker was 27.6% which is higher than the study done by Shrestha et.al 16 whereas lower than the study done by Chand et.al. 20 Majority of the current smokers have initiated their smoking at adolescents (11-19years) period which is supported by the various study conducted in Nepal.…”

“…This study employed the Global Health Professions Student Survey (GHPSS) questionnaire, a validated self-administered tool designed for screening smoking habits among university students. 16 The same GHPSS questionnaire was used in Nepal in similar setting. 17 The current smokers were defined as those who smoked cigarettes daily or occasionally during the past 30 days preceding the survey.…”