Smoking and Asthma Prevalence in Celal Bayar University Medical School Students

Objective: In this study we aimed to evaluate asthma prevalence, smoking status and the effect of probable risk factors in first and second class students of Celal Bayar University Medical Faculty, Manisa School of Health and Vocational School of Health Service. Material and Method: A questionnaire was prepared based on the ECHRS questionnaire and performed by face to face query. Data were analyzed as current asthma, cumulative asthma and asthma related symptoms prevalence. Results: Of the 392 students 144 (36.8%) were male and the mean age was 19.3±1.57. Current asthma, cumulative asthma and asthma related symptom prevalences were 0.5, 2.0, 6.7% respectively and the current smoking status was 16.1%. Current smoking rates were statistically higher in males (p=0.001) and lower in medical students. Allergic rhinitis, dermatitis and familial atopy frequencies were 20.2, 46 and 28.6% respectively. Family history of asthma, presence of asthma in mother and presence of allergic rhinitis affected the prevalence of asthma related symptoms, while the residence of the students and gender did not effect this prevalence. Smoking history of at least one cigarette a day for 6 months or more was significantly affecting the feeling of wheezing and whistling in the chest.Conclusion: The results showed that, the current asthma prevalence in the university students of our city was similar to the asthma prevalence of university students of the same age in previous studies.