Smoking Prevalence and Associated Factors to Quit among Tabriz Dormitory University Medical Students, Tabriz, Iran

Cigarette smoking as a major public health problem contributes extra health costs, and smoking cessation among youths is a priority for any prevention program. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of smoking and examined factors associated with having attempts to quit smoking and the motivations to quit among medical university students. A cross-sectional survey using a random sampling was carried out among 523 (293 male, and 246 female, aged 22.48±3.33years) students in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected by using a self-administered questionnaire. The data were analyzed by t-test, chi-square test and Fisher exact tests. The overal prevalence of smoking was 8.9%. (male 18% and 1.4% female). There were significant relationships between smoking status with male gender and alcohol consumption (p<0.001). The reasons for smoking initiation were: satisfying their curiosity, new experience (37.76%), pleasure and entertainment (17.48%), mental, emotional problems and sedation (16.08%), smoker friends (15.38%), inexperience and ignorance (4.89%). 54.16% of the current smokers had a history of smoking cessation. Regarding the higher prevalence of cigarette smoking in students, especialy in male and attempting to quit smoking in majority of them, preventive interventions in younger age and providing cigarette smoking cessation services for students seem necessary.