Abstract:

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco use is the most important public health concern worldwide, particularly in developing countries. It is estimated that 1.7 billion people worldwide will be smokers by 2025 if any intervention do not made. Turkey took an important step in the fight against smoking with the introduction of the project ‘smokeless airspace’ in May 2009. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of smoking and characteristics of smokers among undergraduates attending the Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2015 to June 2015 among students of the Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey. A self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain sociodemographic data and determine smoking behaviour and nicotine dependence among college students. Statistical analyses were performed using descriptive statistics to measure the prevalence of smoking and determine associations between dependent and independent variables. RESULTS: Of the 2170 respondents, 518 (23.9%) were current smokers, comprising 312 (60.2%) males and 206 (39.8%) females. Cigarette smoking was significantly associated with having friends who smoked, male gender, and parental smoking. Based on the Fagerstrom Tolerance Test, 8.9% of students were identified as being addicts. The chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: It is required the effective smoking-intervention programs, such as continuous education of the negative effects on human health from smoking and assess to support from experts and stronger policy measures, to promote the prevention of smoking among university students, besides the legal regulations, as ‘smokeless airspace’.

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