PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dilektaşlı, Aslı Görek
AU  - Guclu, Ozge Aydın
AU  - Uzaslan, Esra
AU  - Karadag, Mehmet
TI  - University Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes About Electronic Cigarettes
AID  - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2021.PA2445
DP  - 2021 Sep 05
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - PA2445
VI  - 58
IP  - suppl 65
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/58/suppl_65/PA2445.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/58/suppl_65/PA2445.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2021 Sep 05; 58
AB  - Aim: Prevention of smoking must focus on young persons. Smoking prevalence among university students is noteworthy in Turkey. Electronic cigarette (EC) use continues to rise in young people worldwide. We aimed to examine awareness and use of EC in a university in the fourth biggest city of Turkey.Methods: University students completed a web-based self-report questionnaire.Results: Final population consisted of 10.383 students (47.4% females and 52.6% males). The overall frequency of current smokers, ex-smokers and never smokers were 38.4%, 10.4% and 51.1%, respectively. The median age of smoking initiation was 16.5 years old. 19.4% of the smokers had mild or high level of nicotine addiction. The percentage of students who tried e-cigarette was 24.9%% and 47.7% in the overall group and among current-smokers, respectively. The percentage of regular e-cigarette use was 3.6% in the overall group, whereas dual use with cigarette was 7.5% among current-smokers. Male e-cigarette smokers were more frequent compared to females. 80% of the university students think that e-cigarette is dangerous for health. 15.3% of the participants think e-cigarettes can be used as a smoking cessation tool.Conclusion: EC use is regulated by law and their sales are prohibited in Turkey. Despite, sales of EC is not legal and most of the participants are aware that e-cigarettes are dangerous for health; EC use among university students is high and noteworthy. Dual use was also evident in our study population in accordance with previous observations in the literature. More strict regulations are necessary to protect young people from initiation and using of e-cigarettes.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2021; 58: Suppl. 65, PA2445.This abstract was presented at the 2021 ERS International Congress, in session “Prediction of exacerbations in patients with COPD”.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).