Özet:

Aim: Our aim in the study is to determine the factors affecting cigarette consumption in medical school students during the COVID-19 pandemic and its relationship with the fear of COVID-19. Material and Methods: The study was designed as cross-sectional and descriptive, and 293 students studying at Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine participated in the study. Questionnaires prepared for the students were delivered electronically, and those who volunteered participated in the study. In the questionnaire, students’ sociodemographic characteristics, smoking habits were questioned, Fagerström nicotine addiction test and COVID-19 Fear Scale were used. Results: 70.6% of the students included in the study were women. The mean age was 21.38±04 years. The rate of current smokers was 17.7% (n=52). It was learned that 7.1% (n=15) of the participants who had never smoked before thought to start smoking during the pandemic. 64.5% (n=20) of the participants who had quit smoking made this decision during the pandemic. Of those who quit smoking, 54.5% (n=12) quit smoking due to existing health problems and anxiety about getting sick, and 74.2% (n=23) were not considering smoking again. The rate of participants who continued to smoke and had low addiction level was 69.2% (n=36). While there was no change in the amount of consumption in 38.4% (n=20) of the participants who smoked during the pandemic, it was observed that there was a decrease in consumption in 34.6% (n=18) and an increase in consumption in 27% (n=14). It was determined that the news, public service announcements and smoking ban did not play a role in the change in cigarette consumption. It was determined that smokers and those who had COVID-19 disease did not change their ideas about smoking. The mean COVID-19 fear score of the participants was 18.71±4.91 and the fear level was determined as moderate. The level of fear of COVID-19 was statistically significantly higher in female participants than in male participants (p=0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between the COVID-19 fear level and smoking characteristics and other sociodemographic characteristics (p>0.05). Conclusion: The level of fear of COVID-19 was found to be moderate in the participants, and it was higher in female participants. The majority of students who had quit smoking made this decision during the pandemic. It has been determined that news, public service announcements, smoking ban, and having COVID-19 do not cause any change in consumption among smokers

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