Tobacco Use Status Among the Students of the Medical Faculty Turkish Medical Program at a University in Nicosia

Abstract Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the tobacco use status among the students of Near East University (NEU) Medical Faculty Turkish Medical program and to investigate the association of tobacco use with medical education and other related factors. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among Turkish medical program students of NEU in February 2018. The target population of this research consisted of all students of the program. A questionnaire was administered to all participants under direct observation. The data were analysed using SPSS 18.0 program and p<0.05 was considered significant. Findings: Of 805 students, 698 responded to the questionnaire (86.7%). The number of current smokers was 247 (35.4%) with 194 (27.8%) daily smokers. 144 (43.5 %) of 331 male students and 102 (28.1%) of 363 female students were smokers. The difference between the two genders was found to be significant (p<0.001): The males were smoking more than females. With regard to starting smoking before or after admission to the medical school, a significant difference was found between the genders; among the females, the rates of smoking initiation after admission was higher than those among the males. Conclusion: Prevalence of smoking among the medical students was high. Medical education was not influential on the smoking status of medical students. More efficient and earlier tobacco control programs are needed during medical education. Keywords: Smoking addiction, Medical education, Medical student, Tobacco contro