A Survey of Smoking Habits Among University Students and Its Susceptibility Among Various Diseases
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Original Article A survey of smoking habits among university students and its susceptibility among various diseases Muhammad Osama Yaseen1*, Arifa Saif 1, Tahir Mehmood Khan1,2, Amal K Suleiman3 1 Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. 2 School of Pharmacy, Monash University, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia. 3 College of Pharmacy, University of Almaarefa, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Abstract Purpose: Smoking is the leading cause of death worldwide. Based on recent estimates, there are nearly 1.1 billion smokers worldwide. Smoking habits, perceptions, and beliefs have not been adequately conducted in low-middle income countries (LMICs) like Pakistan, and proper policies have not been made by the government of Pakistan, especially in Health & Education departments. Our study aimed to explore smoking habits among university students and their knowledge, attitude & perception about diseases caused by smoking. Method: A cross- sectional, quantitative study was planned among university students in Pakistan using a structured questionnaire. Statistical methods such as chi-square and sample t-test were performed using SPSS version 21®. Results: Our investigation discovered around 80% non-smokers and 20% of smokers. Anxiety/stress and social influence were the most chosen options with 64.35% and 46.15% votes respectively. 35.4 % of students think they might suffer a smoking-related health issue. The majority of the students professed to have been cautioned in university premises about harms of smoking. 18.96% of people responded that they would continue smoking even knowing the consequences. Rehabilitation centers, pharmacies, and hospitals were the most convenient places for cigarette addicted people to get proper treatment and counseling. Conclusion: The prevalence of smoking among university students was high compared to previous findings and the trend was even higher in female students. The majority of the smokers were reluctant to quit smoking while others would prefer to join rehabilitation centers or seek advice from family and friends. Keywords: LMICs, Smoking Issues, Health Services Research, Quality of Life properly by the healthcare professionals.[11] Low education INTRODUCTION was a determinant of cigarette smoking in Pakistan regardless Health is an important factor in life [1]. Smoking is the leading of socio-economic factors. Because people with better cause of death worldwide [2]. Smoking cessation can reduce education may better understand health information, have a the risk of lung cancer [3]. In addition, smoking can also cause higher locus of control, and may have more information and excessive melanin deposition in the oral mucosal epithelial cognition about the importance of smoking cessation and [12, 13] layer [4]. Based on the recent estimates, there are nearly 1.1 disease management. A targeted study in Pakistan billion smokers worldwide, of whom 80% resides in low- discovering the prevalence of cigarette smoking, perception, middle income countries (LMICs). Active smoking led to the and beliefs of students uncovered high prevalence rates death of about 8 million people every year, while 1.2 million among students, particularly medical students, regardless of [11] deaths are due to passive smoking.[5] awareness about the hazards of smoking. Pakistan is one of 15 countries worldwide with a heavy burden of tobacco-related health problems.[6] Center for Address for correspondence: Muhammad Osama Yaseen, Disease Control (CDC) currently estimates that the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary prevalence of cigarette smoking in Pakistan to be and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. approximately 22.2% in men and 2.1% among women.[7] The annual fatalities that are associated with tobacco use in Pakistan are around 160,100 individuals.[8, 9] This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non commercially, as long as the author is credited Various studies revealed that the prevalence of smoking is and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. alarmingly high in medical students, doctors, and healthcare professionals, who are supposed to be enforcing initiatives for How to cite this article: Osama Yaseen, M., Saif, A., Mehmood Khan, smoking control and cessation.[10] The physicians and other T., K Suleiman, A. A survey of smoking habits among university healthcare professionals are responsible to educate their students and its susceptibility to various diseases. Arch Pharma Pract patients regarding the harms of smoking cigarettes as most 2020;11(4):32-42. people do not give up smoking even if they are counseled © 2020 Archives of Pharmacy Practice 32 Osama Yaseen et al.: A survey of smoking habits among university students and its susceptibility to various diseases Investigations related to smoking habits, perceptions and Cronbach’s Alpha test and the results (α=0.71) proved the believes have not been adequately conducted in LMICs like reliability of the test items. Pakistan. There have been very few studies organized in the city of Lahore so far to evaluate the knowledge and attitude Sample size: about cigarette smoking and still, fewer are those done The sample size of this study was calculated by using a specifically on university students.[14] Less attention given by sample size calculator at Raosoft® website [23]. The the government of Pakistan, Health, and Education parameters that need to be considered include the margin of departments can be viewed as the absence of comprehensive error, confidence level, population size, response distribution, data on the psychology of smokers and a thorough and critical value for the confidence level of this study. In this understanding of the factors motivating people towards study, the margin of error and confidence interval was 5% and smoking.[15] Suitable and long-haul arrangements have not 95% respectively. The minimum recommended sample size been made and executed by the government and health was 377 participants to achieve a 95% confidence level yet regulators that could battle with such kind of social issues. 390 respondents were surveyed to make the findings more precise and to give the inhabitants the maximum opportunity In perspective on all previously mentioned realities, the to participate in this study. inspiration driving this investigation is to make a thorough exploratory design with the objectives of covering 1) Data analysis: smoking behavior, 2) perception and knowledge about The entire questionnaire was assigned a serial number to smoking, 3) awareness about health risks associated with ensure traceability. The coding of the responses was smoking and 4) smoking cessation among university performed while collected data were processed using SPSS students. Moreover, it will also highlight some coping software version 21.0. The data were analyzed by using the strategies for the government, health policymakers, and the appropriate non-parametric statistics such as mean and general public to control the increasing trend of cigarette standard deviation. A Chi-Square test was applied to estimate smoking among university students. the association among variables. The difference among the groups was observed using an independent sample t-test. The METHODOLOGY: statistical significance level was 0.05 with a confidence A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted among interval of 95%. university students to investigate the perception, level of knowledge, smoking trends, and its association with various RESULTS: diseases. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the About 487 participants were approached, 390 questionnaires Institutional Review Committee for Biomedical Research, were returned and found complete which complies with the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore, criteria of further analysis with an 80% response rate. 192 Pakistan. The objectives of this study were explained to the (49.23%) of the respondents were female and 197 (50.51%) respondents before taking their consent. To acquire the trust were male. About 238 (61%) of these respondents were of participants, information about their national identity card, medical students and 152 (39%) were non-medical. 320 residents, name, and the mobile number was avoided. (82.1%) of the target population claimed to be non-smokers while 70 (17.9%) were found to be smokers. Summary of Study location and study duration: demographics is shown in Figure-1. Based on study An online survey was conducted among the students from objectives, the results were divided into five portions namely universities and colleges enrolled in Lahore vicinity. The 1) Smoking behavior and exposure 2) Perception about duration of the study was from 1st October 2018 till 31st smoking 3) Awareness about harms and risks of smoking 4) December 2018. For the evaluation of public knowledge Health assessment 5) Smoking cessation. about smoking, a questionnaire was designed which comprised 37 items covering the socio-demographics, These questions on ‘smoking behavior and exposure’ smoking behavior and exposure, awareness about harms and depicted about 312 (80%) non-smokers and 78 (20%) risks of smoking, health assessment, and smoking smokers while the majority of cigarette users were regular cessation.[16-22] The questionnaire comprised 38 questions out smokers.