Use of tobacco products among a Turkish foundation university students, Izmir 2018

Aim and objective The study is conducted to obtain the use of tobacco products and its related factors among a Foundation University Students. Methods The study sample consists of 346 first and fourth year students in 2018 in Izmir University of Economics. The sample was chosen randomly. The students filled a structured self reported questionaire before an educational activity. Results Of the study group, 38.8% are males, 37.6% were 18-20 years old. Approximately 1 in 3 of the students (33.7%) were daily smokers while 14.1% were occasional smokers and 4.4% were quitters. Regular or occasional smoking percentages are quite similar in males and females (p>0.05, chi square test). Smoking is more prevalent in older age group (33.7% and 53.4% respectively), (p=0.001, chi square test). The use of other tobacco products such as hookah, cigars and pipe, is 27.6% while it is 3.4% for e-cigarette with a similar pattern in all tobacco products according to gender and age (p>0.05 for all comparisons, chi square test). Use of tobacco products except e-cigarette are similar according to parental education. E-cigarette use is more common among students whose fathers’ have an educational level of postgraduate degree (2.6% vs 13.0%, p=0.034 Fisher’s exact test). Conclusions We found smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products are quite common among university students. Smoking pattern of males and females in University students is similar on the contrary of Turkish adults’ pattern. The study also reflects the growing use of e-cigarette among Turkish young people especially in students from upper social class