Department of Community Medicine, Saraswathi Institute of Medical Sciences, Hapur, U.P., India
*Corresponding author: Dr. Ravi Kumar, Post Graduate Resident, Department of Community Medicine, Saraswathi Institute of Medical Sciences, Hapur, U.P, India, Phone: 09458751472, Email: ravi20kumarsisodia@gmail.com
Online published on 26 April, 2016.
To ascertain if use of tobacco is a major health problem among medical students and to find out the factors associated with the use of tobacco.
A cross-section study was done on 200 undergraduate male medical students using a pre-designed, pre-tested questionnaire to know about the problem and various correlates of the tobacco use. Data was collected and analyzed by using SPSS software.
Among the tobacco users (42.0%), smoking was found in 57.1% and tobacco chewing in the form of guttkha, khaini, gulmanjan (locally available forms of tobacco) in 15.5% of students as the predominant form of tobacco use. The mean age of our sample was 22.22 years. There was familial aggregation of the use of tobacco. The factors initiating the use of tobacco were usually peer pressure.
tobacco use is a significant problem among the male medical students and we need to take steps to stop its use so as to prevent them from being exposed to its hazardous effects. This will also make their role in the advocacy of the smoking cessation activities more trustworthy.
Medical student, smoking, tobacco
