Cigarette Smoking, Perceived Stres and Quality of Life by Gender Among Medical Students

The stress levels and ways of coping between genders vary in the medical school which has a stressful and compelling learning process. Smoking is seen as a solution for coping with stress, while it negatively affects quality of life due to morbidity. The aim of this study was to evaluate smoking, perceived stress and quality of life by gender among medical students. The study is a cross-sectional study conducted in January-March 2019. After explaining the subject and purpose of the study, the questionnaires were distributed to the students who have given verbal consent. The questionnaire consists of questions about the sociodemographic characteristics of the students, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the European Health Impact Scale-8 (EUROHISQOL -8). The data were evaluated in SPSS (V15.0) statistical package program. Analysis of data performed by using Chi-square, Mann Whitney U and student t tests and p≤0.05 was considered significant. The study group consisted of 494 (49.3%) male,508 (%50.7) female medical students. The prevalence of smoking was 28.3% (284) in the study group, 33.6% (166) in males and 23.2% in females (118). The prevalence of smoking was higher in males. While no difference was found between males in terms of class, family income status, education levels of their mothers and fathers; the mean age of smokers was found higher than non-smokers. While there was no significant difference in smoking prevalence in terms of the girls class and education level of their mothers, the prevalence of smoking was higher in girls with high income status and whose fathers with high school and above degree. The mean age of female smokers was higher than non-smokers. No difference was found between the smokers and nonsmokers in terms of total PSS score. While there was no difference between the female smokers and nonsmokers in terms of the scores obtained from EUROHIS QOL-8, the scores of smoker males were lower. In the study group, there was a negative correlation between PSS and EUROHIS QOL-8 scores. The prevalence of smoking was higher in males. There is a need for anti-smoking programs for medical school students who will be role models for the health of society