Abstract:

Objective: In our study, it was aimed to reveal the smoking habits of Health Services Vocational School students within the scope of sociodemographic characteristics, to determine their nicotine addiction levels, to determine their perspectives and awareness levels about smoking, and to determine the opinions of the students on having a smoke-free air space at school. Methods: Our research is a descriptive cross-sectional study covering 389 students studying at our college in the 2021-2022 academic year. On a voluntary basis, the students filled out the "Personal Information Form", "Fagerström Nicotine Addiction Test", "Attitude Scale Towards Smoking Addiction" and "Smoke-Free Air Field at Schools" questionnaires via Google Forms. The data were evaluated with SPSS, the 24th version package program, and the findings with a p value less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: 74% of the students were girls and 26% were boys, with a mean age of 20.25±1.58 years. The population of smoking students was 48.9%, and nicotine addiction was found to be very mild (2.78±2.68). Smoking habit rate and nicotine addiction of male students (3.25±2.57) were higher than female students (2.53±2.72) (p<0.001 and p=0.032 respectively). Those with better success at school have lower nicotine addiction (p=0.012). Female students, first year students and students whose parents are smokers have higher awareness of the harms of smoking (p<0.05). About 70% of the students want to have a smoke-free area at school. Conclusion: Age-related smoking habit in our school was similar to the rate found by WHO in the Global Adult Tobacco Survey. Although male students smoke more and have higher nicotine addiction, the level of addiction was found to be mild. It was understood that parents and close friends of smokers were lower than expected. Awareness of the health hazards of smoking was found to be moderate in both smokers and non-smokers. We believe that this situation is a warning for our students to request a smoke-free airfield within the campus and for the administrators to take precautions and direct them.

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