RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Tobacco and e-cigarette use, and exposure to SHS among health sciences students: a national cross-sectional study
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP PA4561
DO 10.1183/13993003.congress-2018.PA4561
VO 52
IS suppl 62
A1 Sofia Belo Ravara
A1 Vera Afreixo
A1 Mónica Condinho
A1 Marília Santos Rua
A1 Carlos Albuquerque
A1 Pedro Aguiar
A1 Jorge Bonito
YR 2018
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/52/suppl_62/PA4561.abstract
AB Aim: To assess tobacco and e-cigarette (EC) use, and exposure to SHS among pharmaceutical (PHs), nursing (Ns), medical (MDs), and medical dental (Ds) finalists students.Methods: In 2016, a national cross-sectional questionnaire-based study involved health science schools in Portugal (46.6% online). A descriptive/inferential and regression analysis was performed.Results: Participants: 2095 students, 79.5% females, mode age 23 years, 34.5% collaboration rate. Of the finalists, more than half had experimented tobacco (in descending order: box cigarettes, RYO, shisha, cigarillos, cigars, p<0.001). Experimentation of EC ranged from 9.3% (MD) to 13.4% (Ns). EC occasional consumption was more frequent than daily. Prevalence of tobacco use was: Ns-22.1% (23.5% in males; 21.8% in females, p=0.6); Ds-19.7% (29.7% in males; 15.9% in females, p=0,018); PHs19.4% (32.3% in males, 15.1% in females; p=0,003); MDs12,2%, (17.1% in males; 10.2% in females, p=0,049), p<0.001. Among all courses, regular smoking overlaps with college admission; most smokers reported low dependence and desire to quit, while 20% reported readiness to quit; motivation to quit was not triggered by being a role model; Nursing students reported significantly higher dual consumption and experimentation of multiple tobacco products, p<0.001. Being female or an MD predicted not using tobacco. Exposure to SHS was rather common in leisure spaces and did not significantly varied among courses.Conclusions: Tobacco use, experimentation of e-cigarette, and exposure to SHS are common among health science students, highlighting the need to implement comprehensive tobacco control policies in health science schools.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2018 52: Suppl. 62, PA4561.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).