Assessment of smoking behaviors of 2509 Turkish university students and its correlates: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

The aim of our study is to determine smoking behavior and its correlates among the faculty of education students. 2509 students, out of 3200, participated in the smoking questionnaire survey in the Faculty of Education of Celal Bayar University, in Manisa, Turkey at the beginning of 2007 educational year. General smoking percentage in school was 45.9%. Regarding daily smoked packet numbers, 186 (16.2%) students smoked less than a packet per day, 330 (28.6%) students between half and one packet, and 636 (55.2%) students more than one packet per day. Monthly familial income found inversely related with smoking (p=0.003). According to Linear Regression Analysis, drinking behavior could be guessed by smoking behavior (r=0.081) so that all of smokers had drunk also. Our study indicates also that the starting age to smoking has decreased to as low as 10 years. In past 10 years while smoking prevalence in western countries decreased, it is increased in developing countries. In a Slovakian study, smoking prevalence was 21.6%, in French 34.6% and in Israeli 24.1%. Therefore, more education on the burdens of smoking must be given to university students.