Abstract:

Purpose: Tobacco use is one of the major public health problems the world faces. The common problem of tobacco addiction to smoking often begins in youth. A significant proportion of those who begin to smoke during this period will become addicted within a few years and become a permanent drinker. Our study aims to investigate the smoking habits, influencing factors and levels of addiction of medical faculty’s first-class students. Materials and Methods: The universe of study, which is in a cutting-edge identification type, was formed by 62 students in the 1st class, starting education in the 2017-2018 academic year at the Ushak University School of Medicine. The data collection form includes demographic information as well as the smoking habits and behaviors, the circumstances of smoking in the environment in which they live, in the family, in close friends, the age of smoking, the causes, the question of the thought of leaving and the level of nicotine addiction to the Fagerström Nikotin Addiction Test (FNBT). The data were evaluated using Ki-Care test, Mann-Whitney U test and Pearson Correlation test. Results: Students of the 1st grade of the medical faculty in the study group smoke 20.30%, mostly men. The distribution of most of their friends and very few who smoke was significantly different among students who smoked and who didn’t drink. In smokers, the average Fagerström addiction score is 5.16 ± 2.1 (min: 2, max: 9). The proportion of high-dependents is 16.80%. 58.30% of students smoking, most of their friends smoking, and 66.70% began to drink during high school. More than half (58.30%) is the main reason to start; it is a friend-environmental effect and thinks about leaving. On the other hand, the percentage of those who consider contributing to the fight against smoking is significantly higher in the non-smoking group. Most of the half of the research group (67.80%) believes that the smoking law is partially applied. The result: In our study, the rate of smoking in students who began their education at the Faculty of Medicine was less than in the general community, while similar to the level of university students and young people in other fields. Medical students, who will take important tasks in the fight against smoking in the coming years, should be kept away from smoking from the beginning of their training and should be effectively studied in order to stop those who drink. Education and social activities (community building, awareness creation, contribution to public education, etc.) The studies that will be carried out throughout the learning process will make a significant contribution to the creation of a non-smoking society.

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