Knowledge About Health Effect of Cigarette Smoking and Quitting AmongUniversity Students in Basrah, Iraq

Abstract

Background: globally, tobacco use has become a public health problem among university students, smoking habits show variation across different countries, the prevalence rates also varies between countries. Health knowledge about the risk effects of smoking is a very important factor to motivate smokers to quit smoking. Smoking cessation reduces health risks and improves quality of life. Morbidity and mortality of cancer, cardiovascular and lung diseases can be reduced if smokers quit. This study aims to determining are the students of university have knowledge about health effects of cigarette smoking and quitting? Subjects and methods: this study is a cross-sectional study which was conducted in Basra city on university students for the period from 15th of August 2023 to 30th of April 2024. About 1869 students with mean age (22.44+ 5.58 years), from different colleges in Basra University students participated in the study. The students filled in properly selected questionnaire detailing their socio- demographic characteristics and smoking behavior. Results: the prevalence of smokers in the studied population was 15.1 %, only 94.7% had correct knowledge about smoking, 27.2% had mentioned three risk or more of smoking, 36.1 % of the studied sample knew his information about smoking during academic study, Sadness and long leisure times was the cause of smoking for more than half of the smokers, 48.9% of the smokers Sometimes thought in risks of their smoking during the last month, 33.7% of smokers intended to quit during next six months mostly because of smoking is unhealthy causing diseases. Conclusions and Recommendations: cigarette smoking is a common problem among university students despite their awareness about the health hazards of tobacco. The study revealed that most participants had adequate knowledge and good attitudes towards cigarette smoking. Specific training and counseling should be part of the curriculum at university and smoking need to be further addressed through appropriate educational tools and government legislation.