Saima Akhter, Usman Ali Warraich, Sajeer Bhura, Hassan Mustafa, Nadeem Rizvi.
A Comparison of Smoking Habits Between Medical and Non-Medical University Students and Effect of University Related Factors on Their Habits.
Ann Jinnah Sindh Med Uni Jan ;4(1):46-50.

Objective: This study has determined the prevalence of tobacco smoking among medical and non-medical students alongwith the influence of university related factors on smoking habits. Methodology: We surveyed 1487 students from 18 universities across Pakistan from September to December, 2014. A self-administered questionnaire was filled out by the students. Chi square and binary logistic regression was used through SPSS 22. Results: Mean age of study population was 20.17 years. Overall prevalence of smoking was 21.5% with 13%, 28.5%, and 30.6% among Medical, Engineering, and Social Sciences students respectively. Among smokers? group, 69.9% started smoking in the age bracket of 16-20 years. In all universities, cigarette smoking was popular over shisha. There was an exponential rise in frequency of smokers as we examined successive academic years in non-medical universities (p<0.05). Allocation of specific place for smoking within campus, presence of shisha bar nearby, anti-smoking literature on social media, and health awareness seminars conducted by teachers have a strong impact on smoking habits (p<0.05). Conclusion: All kinds of smoking were found to be more prevalent in non-medical universities. There is a strong relationship between university-related factors and smoking prevalence. Smoking-related health education must be a part of the academic curriculum in all types of institutions. Key words: Shisha, non-medical university, medical university

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