TY - JOUR
T1 - E-CIGARETTE USE, OPINION ABOUT HARMFULNESS AND ADDICTION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA
AU - Babjaková, Jana
AU - Rimárová, Kvetoslava
AU - Weitzman, Michael
AU - Bušová, Milena
AU - Jurkovičová, Jana
AU - Dorko, Erik
AU - Argalášová, Ľubica
N1 - Funding Information:
The research was partially supported by the grant YABS (Youth and Parents Behavioural Survey in Slovakia) O-15-101-/0001-00 and supported with grants KEGA of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic No. 007UPJŠ-4/2018, No. 008UPJŠ-4/2020, No. 010UPJŠ-4/2021, No. 015UK-4/2022 and internal grant of University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik IPEL VVGS-2020-1485.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Czech National Institute of Public Health. All rights reserved.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the use of electronic cigarettes (EC) among medical students, their knowledge and beliefs (opinion about harmfulness and addiction potential) on ECs, perceptions of the risk, as well as to assess the type of education and cessation training they received during their study at Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Methods: This cross-sectional, anonymous online e-mailed survey was conducted among medical students via the Study Department by sending e-mails containing the survey link. Participants completed the online questionnaire adapted from the American Survey on Tobacco and Alternative Tobacco Products. It included questions about the personal use of EC, perceptions about the harms and their role in disease causation, education and cessation training, and practices related to conventional cigarettes (CC), EC, and alternative tobacco products (ATP). The e-mailed questionnaire filled in 577 medical students (71.9% women) from Comenius University in Bratislava, the average age was 23 ± 2 years. The sample comprised 486 (84.2%) Slovak and 91 (15.8%) foreign students. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25. Results: There were 385 (66.7%) non-smokers, 111 (19.3%) ex-smokers and 81 (14%) current smokers in the study sample. EC currently use 13.5% of medical students, with a statistically significant intersexual difference (22.2% males vs. 10.12% females; OR = 2.53, 95% CI: 1.55–4.13), more foreign students than Slovak students (24.2% vs. 11.52%; OR = 2.44, 95% CI: 1.41–4.26), more smokers of conventional cigarettes than non-smokers (46.9% vs. 8.06%; OR = 10.07, 95% CI: 5.85–17.34). EC seems to be less harmful to 59.97% of students, mostly in the age group ≤ 24 (61.76% vs. 51.49%; OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.03–2.07), 41.25% of students consider EC to be less addictive, 55.6% think they do not get enough education on EC during their medical study. Conclusion: The results overall show the high consumption of tobacco products and the lack of knowledge and awareness among medical students, future health care providers. In health promotion and disease prevention, they should serve as a model for their patients and for the general public as well. Our study emphasizes the need for intervention in this field at medical faculties and for support of further monitoring in Slovakia and other countries and draws attention to the ongoing lack of EC regulation.
AB - Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the use of electronic cigarettes (EC) among medical students, their knowledge and beliefs (opinion about harmfulness and addiction potential) on ECs, perceptions of the risk, as well as to assess the type of education and cessation training they received during their study at Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. Methods: This cross-sectional, anonymous online e-mailed survey was conducted among medical students via the Study Department by sending e-mails containing the survey link. Participants completed the online questionnaire adapted from the American Survey on Tobacco and Alternative Tobacco Products. It included questions about the personal use of EC, perceptions about the harms and their role in disease causation, education and cessation training, and practices related to conventional cigarettes (CC), EC, and alternative tobacco products (ATP). The e-mailed questionnaire filled in 577 medical students (71.9% women) from Comenius University in Bratislava, the average age was 23 ± 2 years. The sample comprised 486 (84.2%) Slovak and 91 (15.8%) foreign students. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25. Results: There were 385 (66.7%) non-smokers, 111 (19.3%) ex-smokers and 81 (14%) current smokers in the study sample. EC currently use 13.5% of medical students, with a statistically significant intersexual difference (22.2% males vs. 10.12% females; OR = 2.53, 95% CI: 1.55–4.13), more foreign students than Slovak students (24.2% vs. 11.52%; OR = 2.44, 95% CI: 1.41–4.26), more smokers of conventional cigarettes than non-smokers (46.9% vs. 8.06%; OR = 10.07, 95% CI: 5.85–17.34). EC seems to be less harmful to 59.97% of students, mostly in the age group ≤ 24 (61.76% vs. 51.49%; OR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.03–2.07), 41.25% of students consider EC to be less addictive, 55.6% think they do not get enough education on EC during their medical study. Conclusion: The results overall show the high consumption of tobacco products and the lack of knowledge and awareness among medical students, future health care providers. In health promotion and disease prevention, they should serve as a model for their patients and for the general public as well. Our study emphasizes the need for intervention in this field at medical faculties and for support of further monitoring in Slovakia and other countries and draws attention to the ongoing lack of EC regulation.
KW - Slovakia
KW - electronic cigarettes
KW - questionnaire survey
KW - university students
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U2 - 10.21101/cejph.a7240
DO - 10.21101/cejph.a7240
M3 - Article
C2 - 35841226
AN - SCOPUS:85134619311
SN - 1210-7778
VL - 30
SP - S50-S56
JO - Central European Journal of Public Health
JF - Central European Journal of Public Health
IS - Supplement
ER -