Smoking Rates, Attitudes Towards Second Hand Smoking and Lung Cancer Awareness Among Medical and Dental Students in India

PURPOSE There is no safe level of second hand smoke and conclusive evidence exists about the association between life threatening disease and passive smoking. Breathing even a little second hand smoke can be dangerous. Second hand smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, 200 of which are toxins and 43 are carcinogens. Those who have heart disease and/or asthma are particularly susceptible to exposure to second hand smoke exposure Passive smoking, according to the recent global assessment of the burden of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is still one of the most important threats to public health. The aim of the study was to determine the smoking rates and perceptions of students towards second hand smoke in a University setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS A questionnaire was prepared based on the guidelines of WHO global adult tobacco surveillance data. The study proposal was approved by ethics committee. A comparative study was done to determine the smoking rates and attitudes towards second hand smoke between the Medical and Dental students at Tagore dental and medical college, India. The responses were tabled and data was analysed statistically using SPSS and other data analysis software. RESULTS A total of 118 dental students and 63 medical students completed the survey. Fewer dental students (2.5%) have smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their life when compared to the medical students (19.05 %) who were also current smokers. Current smokers averaged 6.4 cigarettes per day and smoked 2.6 per day on campus. A majority of dental students (37.2%) and medical students (11.1%) believed air quality to be poor. All medical had an experience of second hand smoke while (3.4%) dental students have never experienced second hand smoke. On the other hand (81.3%) of the Dental students and (30.2%) of medical students believed that a smoking ban would greatly improve the public image of college. Though (95%) of Dental students and (71.4%) of medical students agreed that tobacco smoke is dangerous for smokers and non-smokers health; only the dental students (85%) wanted the campus to be smoke free in the future, while the medical students (38%) only wanted campus to be smoke free. The difference is because of the higher smoking rates among the medical students. CONCLUSION It is clear that there is considerable support for a smoke free policy in the college campus but there must be adequate education and consultation. In the meantime, students should be provided health education to discourage tobacco use. Information on tobacco control policies needs to be more widely disseminated.