RAŞİT DURSUN, HASAN DURMUŞ, ELÇİN BALCI, YUNUS DENİZ, NİHAT KÖYLÜCE, OSMAN GÜNAY
Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Dergisi - 2023;18(1):85-92
Objective: Aim of this study is to determine the smoking behaviours and nicotine dependence among Erciyes University students and assess of the change in smoking status by comparing with previous studies which was performed same department and researchers in 1985 and 2005. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on students studying at Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Engineering and Theology in the 2018-2019 academic year. The sample size was calculated as 1500 students. A questionnaire consisting of 48 questions prepared by the researchers and the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) consisting of six questions were used as data collection tools. Results: The study was completed with 1348 students. The rate of smoking was 6.3% among women and 28.0% among men, and 16.1% in total. Among departments, the highest smoking rate was seen in engineering faculty with 25.9%. Smoking rates in medical faculties and theology faculties were 13.9% and 5.0%, respectively. The rate of those with high and very high nicotine dependence levels among men was significantly higher than women, respectively 17.6% and 6.4% (p=0.027). The mean total FTND score was 3.06±2.32. Assessing frequency of smoking; it was 29.8% (M: 33.90, F: 12.20) in 1985, 16.7% (M: 25.60, F: 5.10) in 2005 and 16.1% (M: 28.0, F: 6.3) in 2019. Conclusion: In conclusion, the rate of smoking among Erciyes University students is affected by the change in the student profile. Although smoking has decreased for a while with the tobacco control strategies, it can be said that there has been an increase trend of smoking both men and women in 2019 but there is decrease in the general usage rate.
