Knowledge and Attitude of Dormitory Students of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences about Smoking in 2016

Aim: Smoking is one of the most important causes of respiratory, cardiovascular and cancers diseases. This study examined the smoking-related knowledge, attitudes and practices of dormitory students of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran. The specific aim is to determine the correlation between the main variable's affect on smoking habits, knowledge and attitudes.
In this cross-sectional study conducted with descriptive and analytical approach, 340 students were selected through random cluster sampling. The participating students completed an interview measuring demographic characteristics and smoking-related knowledge, attitude and practice. Data were analyzed using Chi-square and Pearson's tests in SPSS (ver. 21).
Findings: The mean and SD of the participants was 22.93±4.05 years. Accordingly, 23% (n=78) of the subjects were current smokers and 17.1% (n=58) had experienced smoking. The knowledge of 1.8% (n=6) of the subjects was weak about smoking's health effects, 9.97% (n=332) had average and 0.3% (n=1) had good knowledge. Attitude of 8.6% (n=29) of the participants about smoking was poor, 29.5% (n=100) average and 61.9% (n=210) good. Relationship between knowledge and attitude about the harms of smoking (r=0.35, p There was a moderate level of knowledge and attitude about smoking hazards among the participants. Also the prevalence of smoking was relatively high. With regard to the statistically significant relationship between knowledge and attitude with smoking, declared health educational programs may enrich current knowledge, and promote the attitudes related to smoking risk and effects on the student's health.