Effects of Cigarettes Smoking on Pulmonary Function among University Students

Pulmonary function testing is a physiological test that measures how an individual inhales or exhales volumes of air as a function of time. Smoking is greatly associated with reduction of pulmonary function. This research is aimed to estimate the values of peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and ratio between FEV1/FVC among smoking and non-smoking students in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. Smoking is often related to obstructive disorder with low value of FVC, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC. These pulmonary functions were analyzed based on several variables such as; the number of cigarette smoked per day, duration of smoking, age, and body mass index (BMI) values. 70 healthy volunteers consist of smoking and non- smoking students was selected through several sessions. Students were interviewed to answer questionnaire on demographic, lifestyles and their smoking habit. The pulmonary function tests were conducted according to American Thoracic Society (ATS) standards. The results of the pulmonary functions were analyzed by using SPSS software to compare the pulmonary functions between the smoker and the non-smoker students. The results of the studies showed that the number of cigarettes smoked by respondent and the BMI values were the significant predictors of the decrease in FEV1/FVC values among university student