Abstract

CEBALLOS, Guillermo Augusto; DEL GORDO, Roberto  and  CAMPO-ARIAS, Adalberto. Associated factors to daily cigarette smoking habit among medical students from Santa Marta, Colombia. Rev. Fac. Nac. Salud Pública [online]. 2006, vol.24, n.1, pp.79-83. ISSN 0120-386X.

Introduction: cigarette smoking is a public health problem showing a high prevalence among future health professionals who will have to prevent smoking habit and promote smoking cessation. Objective: to establish last-month prevalence of daily smoking among medical students in Santa Marta, Colombia. Method: a sample of 156 medical students of the University of Magdalena, aged 18 to 20 years old, filled out an anonymous survey that inquired health risk behaviors, including cigarette smoking. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with daily cigarette consumption. Results: the prevalence of daily cigarette smoking during last month Associated factors to daily cigarette smoking habit among medical students from Santa Marta, Colombia was 19.9% (95% CI: 13.6-26.2), and daily consumption was 6.4 (95% CI: 2.6-10.2). Being male (OR = 5.31), drinking alcohol last month (OR = 5.60) and substance use history (OR = 12.0) were all related to daily cigarette smoking. Conclusions: Near 6.0% of medical student are daily smokers. It is very important to promote smoking cessation in this population.

Keywords : Smoking; epidemiology; prevalence; medical students; risk factors.