Knowledge, attitude, and practices of medical science students about tobacco use

Context: Tobacco products’ consumption among students seems to have increased, which threatens their health as a cultural and social harm. Aims: The present study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice of students in Qom University of Medical Sciences about tobacco. Setting and Design: A cross‑sectional study was performed in Qom University of Medical Sciences, Iran, from December 2017 to January 2018. Material and Methods: Subjects accommodates 499 individuals who were selected through the simple random sampling. Data were collected using demographic and Global Youth Tobacco Survey (knowledge, attitude, and practice on tobacco) questionnaire. Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive statistics, mean, and standard deviation were used to describe the status of the individuals. Pearson correlation coefficient and independent t‑test, Chi‑square, and ANOVA were used to analyze the relationships in SPSS‑20 software. Results: The mean age of the samples was 21.32 ± 3.89 years. Men were 272 (54.4%), 438 (87.6) were single, and the rest were married. Average student knowledge was 6.65 (2.22), and their positive attitude was 40.16 (11.02). About practice, 76.9%, 93.5%, and 76% of people never used smoke, pipe, and hookah, respectively. T‑test showed that there is a significant relationship between positive attitude and gender (P 0.001); however, there is no significant relationship between knowledge scores and gender (P = 0.068). Chi‑square test indicates that the difference between the two groups of girls and boys is not significant compared to the age of start of smoking (P = 0.86). Conclusion: Female students’ knowledge was slightly higher than male; however, the positive attitude of male students was more than the female students about tobacco. It is necessary that the authorities and counseling centers of the university found underlying causes and work hard to solve the students’ problems.