Smoking prevalence and attitudes regarding its control among health professional students in South-Western Nigeria

Abstract

Background:Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of morbidity and mortality globally; about 70% of smokers see physicians each year. Health care professionals have a very unique role in motivating people to quit smoking.Aim:The aims of this study were to document the smoking prevalence and attitudes regarding its control among these set of students who will be tomorrow's health care providers.Subjects and Methods:A cross-sectional survey was conducted in two medical schools in South-Western Nigeria with their accompanied nursing and pharmacy students. All students in the selected schools were eligible to participate and student's participation was voluntary. The Global Health Professional Students Survey core questionnaire was used to collect data on smoking prevalence and attitudes regarding its control. The data were summarized using percentages and confidence interval (CI) was calculated using standard error of mean. Pearson's Chi-square and fisher's exact were employed to test the significance.Results:Life-time prevalence of cigarette smoking was 17.9% (121/675) with (95% confidence interval [CI] 15-20.8). Only 5.04% (34/675) with (95% CI 3.7-7.1) of the respondents were currently smoking. Ever smokers were significantly less likely than non-smokers to indicate that tobacco sales to adolescents should be banned (P < 0.01). Fewer smokers than non-smokers agreed that there should be a complete ban on advertising of tobacco products (P < 0.001). 93.3% of them said that they were taught about danger of smoking but only 48.6% ever heard of using anti-depressant in tobacco cessation program.Conclusions:Smoking prevalence among health professional students in South-West Nigeria is relatively low; however, majority believed that health-care providers serve as role models for their patients and the public.

Cigarette Smoking Practices, Perceptions and Awareness of Government Policies among Pharmacy Students in Niger Delta University in South-South Nigeria

“…Smoking prevalence was higher among males than females similar to other studies that showed that the frequency of tobacco use differs significantly between sexes 11,19 . A higher acceptability and use among males is suggested 20 .…”

“…Also, most respondents opined that both pharmacy students and pharmacists in general should be involved in smoking cessation programmes.These findings mimic a recent study 11 .As a matter of fact, it is reported that about 5-10% abstinence rates may be achieved following counseling by a health pratitioner 36 It is gratifying to note that, these students had a very positive attitude towards smoking and smoking cessation with a mean perception of 4.05 (81%). If this attitude is maintained and sustained, then we may be hopeful that, in the near future, there will be more people involved in the struggle to curtail the smoking pandemic.…”

“…Majority of the respondents were adolescents in the 16-25 age bracket in consonance with similar studies 11,15 .…”

“…This is similar to other reports 12,15,18,21 . Lower debuting age has also been reported 6,7,10,11,22 .…”

“…Sequel to the effect of smoking there is a need to control the epidemic of tobacco-related diseases and death 7,11 . Studies have indicated that adolescents are exposed to tobacco substances at an early age 12 .…”