- Gülhan Yiğitalp: Department of Nursing, Dicle University Atatürk Health High School, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to determine the smoking habits of students of Atatürk Health College of Dicle University and the factors affecting them.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed between April 15 and 19, 2013. The selection of sampling was not conducted, since the whole study population included. Of 400 registered students, 326 (81.5%) were included. For collecting data, a questionnaire form designed by the researcher and Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence for determining the addiction level were applied. Percentage calculation was used for analyzing data, and chi-square test was employed for evaluating the relationship between the variables.
RESULTS: The mean age of students was 21.4±2.3 years. Of them, 12.3% still smoked and 4% had quit. Of the smokers, 21.9% were males and 3.5% were females. Of the smokers, 67.5% stated that they tried to quit smoking and 72.5% replied that they thought of quitting smoking in the future. It was found that 47.5% of the students smoked 11-20 cigarettes a day. Of the students who still smoked and who had quitted, 47.2% had begun to smoke at the age of 10-15 years. As the cause for smoking initiation, 50.9% of the students revealed stress, difficulties, and sadness and 35.8% revealed the effect of a friend. A statistically significant difference was found between smoking habit and age, gender, class, and the presence of smokers among close friends (p<0.05). Moreover, it was detected that 35% of the students were over dependent.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of smoking among the youth is high. To decrease smoking prevalence, the reasons for smoking initiation should be investigated and some precautions should be taken before the university age, and they should be continued during the university education.