ASSESSMENT OF PREVALENCE AND PREDICTORS OF SMOKING AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

Cigarette smoking has become a prevalent habit among youth particularly the university students. This is a serious matter of consideration as it propels these young students towards serious diseases in later years of their lives. This study has assessed various factors that influence the development of smoking habit among the university students in Lahore, Pakistan. A cross-sectional study design was followed in which (n= 183) university students from 18 to 25 years of age from the universities of Lahore, Pakistan were interviewed by using the pre-tested and self-reported questionnaire as data collection tool. The findings were statistically tested by applying chi-square, univariate & multivariate logistic regression tests by using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25.0. This study included the university students (n= 183) showing the prevalence of smoking among male (n= 157, 85.8%) university students were found higher than those of females (n= 26, 14.2%). Students aging from 18-20 years of age showed highest habituality (38.8%) to the smoking. There was a significant (OR=0.29; 95% CI: 0.12 - 0.73, p=0.008) association of parent education and other education related factors on adoption of smoking habit among female university students. Students aging from 21-23 years of age (OR= 4.14; 95% CI: 1.92-8.90, p=0.001) and students from 24-25 years (OR= 2.44; 95% CI: 1.12-5.31, p=0.03) of age showed significant correlation with their relationships and smoking habit. Students aging from 21-23 years of age showed significant (OR= 2.71; 95% CI: 1.14-6.42, p=0.02) association of development of the smoking habit and the impact of awareness they had about various aspects of the smoking habit. Smoking habit is not developed abruptly among the young university students instead there are certain contributing factors such as educative and demographic backgrounds along with awareness and perception about certain aspects of smoking are important factors that need to be considered by the governments and policy makers who intend to curb the smoking and tobacco consumption among the youth and students.