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Pattern and quitting of tobacco smoking among Egyptian university students

  • Manal M. Anwar EMAIL logo and Shaimaa A. Senosy
Published/Copyright: June 10, 2020
International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health
From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 33 Issue 6

Abstract

Objectives

University students are at high risk of practicing the smoking habit being exposed to smoking peers and easier cigarette availability.

Methods

This study aims to explore prevalence, attitude and pattern of tobacco smoking and quitting among Beni-Suef University students. A cross-sectional study was conducted from March to May 2019. A total of 4,599 students were selected by using randomized multi-stage sampling using self-administered questionnaire for data collection.

Results

The mean age of students found to be smokers was 20.8 ± 1.42 years. Males: Females' ratio was 2:1 (66 vs.34%). Prevalence of smoking was 17.4%. Students of non-medical and non-health colleges showed a significant high smoking rate (18.8 and 18.3% respectively) than students in health faculties (15.2%); p=0.017. Participants believed that they might smoke because of: peers' pressure (73.3%), stress (71.4%), imitating popular figures (61.7%) and availability of money (60.4%). Regarding smoking provinces; 86.1% did smoke in coffee-shops, 73.1% in university yards and only 16.87% used to smoke at home Regarding the attitudes of smokers and nonsmokers towards smoking; the acceptance of indoor smoking was significantly higher (85.6%) among smokers than non-smokers (6.42%); p=0.0001. Of note; 51.2% of smokers versus 86.3% of non-smokers agreed to ban smoking in public places (P=0.001). Majority of smokers (72.1%) had the desire to stop smoking while (57.8%) tried to stop smoking but failed.

Conclusions

Smoking is becoming a habit among university students and initiative of a smoke free environment should be encouraged and subject and method.

Keywords: quitting; tobacco smoking; university students
Corresponding author: Manal Mohamed Anwar, MD, Assistant Professor, Public Health and Community Medicine Department; Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt. Phone: +20-82-2324879, Fax: +20-82-2333367, E-mail:

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank all the participants who helped us in this study.

  1. Funding: There was no source of funding.

  2. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Received: 2019-11-13
Accepted: 2020-01-12
Published Online: 2020-06-10

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2019-0237
Keywords for this article
quitting; tobacco smoking; university students

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Reviews
  3. Effective strategies to improve health worker performance in delivering adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services
  4. Sleep disturbance and depression in adolescence: an integrative review of literature
  5. Multiple behavioural risk factors of non-communicable diseases among adolescents in four Caribbean countries: prevalence and correlates
  6. The post 16 gap: how do young people conceptualise PE? An exploration of the barriers to participation in physical education, physical activity and sport in senior school pupils
  7. The effect of cognitive behavior therapy on body image and self-esteem in female adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis
  8. Polycystic ovary syndrome and reproductive health of women: a curious association
  9. Correlation between obesity, gestational diabetes mellitus, and pregnancy outcomes: an overview
  10. Mindfulness and eudaimonic well-being: the mediating roles of rumination and emotion dysregulation
  11. Acute neurological conditions during pregnancy and their management: a review
  12. Depression and anxiety in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome: a literature survey
  13. Significance of sugar intake in young adults: a review
  14. Original Articles
  15. Prevalence and factors associated with smoking among Tunisian secondary school-adolescents
  16. Physical fitness and its association with overweight among early adolescents in Puducherry, Southern India
  17. Knowledge and awareness of individual sickle cell genotype among adolescents in a unity school in Southeast, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study
  18. Popular water pipe smoking, medical sciences students' awareness, perceptions, and motivations
  19. Investigation E-health literacy and correlates factors among Alborz medical sciences students: a cross sectional study
  20. Risk of eating disorders in university students: an international study in Hungary, Poland and Ukraine
  21. Prevalence and associated factors of oral and hand hygiene behaviour among adolescents in six Southeast Asian countries
  22. Assessment of academic performance of licensed athletes
  23. Gender-based differences in risk-taking behaviors among high school students in Southeast Iran
  24. Experience of sexual and gender minority youth when accessing health care in Turkey
  25. Use of modern contraceptives among advanced-level secondary school girls in the Rukwa Region, Tanzania, 2018
  26. The effect of poetry reading on self-concept of primary adolescents
  27. The association of acne and menstrual symptoms among young women (18–25 years) in Egypt: a population-based cross-sectional study
  28. Sexual risk behaviors and influencing factors among Muslim adolescents on southern border of Thailand
  29. Not just studies, but fitness can also get you the intelligence and the grades!!
  30. Effectiveness of a school-based intervention in Guatemala to increase knowledge of sexual and reproductive health
  31. Stressful life events and depressive symptoms among adolescents in Malaysia: the mediating role of maladaptive cognitive schema
  32. Sexual risk behaviour and its correlates among adolescents in Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Timor-Leste: results from national school surveys in 2015
  33. Utilization rate and factors influencing the use of HIV counseling and testing services among young females: a community-based study from Nigeria
  34. Pattern and quitting of tobacco smoking among Egyptian university students
  35. Association between parents and peer attachment with health locus of control: a cross-sectional study among Iranian adolescents
  36. Body dissatisfaction and its association with domains of physical activity and of sedentary behavior in a sample of 15,632 adolescents
  37. Effect of Bhramari pranayama practice on simple reaction time in healthy adolescents – a randomized control trial
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  39. Survey of school nurses’ experiences of providing counselling on sexual orientation to high school students in Japan
  40. Prevalence and correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents in Laos
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