Knowledge and Attitudes About Smoking Among Students in a Medical Faculty

Tobacco use in Turkey remains a significant health concern especi­ally among young population. The purpose of this study was to as­sess the smoking rates among medical students and also their know­ledge of smoking-related diseases and their attitudes towards smo­king .The data was collected by self-administered questionnaires comple­ted by 356 medical students. The study was conducted as a student special study module. The results showed that 39.04% of the stu­dents were current smokers. There were significantly more male than female smokers in the whole group. Year 4, 5 and 6 students exhibited a greater knowledge of tobacco-related disease compared to students in years the first 3 years of medical school. This study has provided a contribution to data on smoking among medical students as well as a tool to encourage students to partici­pate in a study project with their teachers.