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Mohtasham Amiri Z, Arshadi N, Montaser Koohsari M. Cigarette smoking among medical students in Guilan University of Medical Sciences. Payesh 2006; 5 (1)
URL: http://payeshjournal.ir/article-1-754-en.html

Objective(s): To determine the prevalence of smoking among Guilan medical students and to study the effects of sociodemographic factors on smoking behavior.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed between 590 medical students in Guilan University in 2001. The survey instrument contained a section for socio-demographic information and questions relating to the students' smoking behavior. Current smoker was everyone who used cigarette in the previous 30 days. Data were analyzed with spss 10 software. The x2 test, Mann-Witney test and logistic regression were performed to calculate the relations between independent factors and cigarette smoking. Results: From 590 subjects, 531 (90%) completed the questionnaires. Of these 265 students were male and 255 were female. The mean age was 23.2 ± 4.1 years (range 17 to 38years). The prevalence of smoking among university students was 16.6% (26% in male and 7.1 % in female; P<0.0001). The results of analysis indicated
that: being male, living with friends, having friend who smokes, history of interruption in education were independently associated with smoking but having a family member who smokes, marital status, family education, and educational status were not associated with smoking. In logistic regression, the only effective determinants was having smoker friends (Odds ratio= 18.5, 95%CI= 8.7 to 39.2, P=0.0001).
Conclusion: Smoking is one of the most important public health problems among students in Guilan Medical University and preventive program must be started in much earlier period in schools and universities.