Use of and Awareness about Electronic Cigarette among Medical School Students

Objectives: Nicotine is an addictive alkaloid agent. Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) is a product that contains nicotine and various ingredients while producing steam. Its usage is spreading among people in Turkey like in other countries. The aim of this study is to find out the frequency of e-cigarette usage among medical students, their views on e-cigarette and their awareness. Methods: To find out the smoking habits of medical students, the frequency of their e-cigarette usage, as well as their level of knowledge on the issue, a survey composed of 36 questions is applied among the students of Ufuk University Faculty of Medicine. Results: The percentage of cigarette usage among the students is 22.8% while 11.5% of these students tried e-cigarette. The percentage of male students who tried e-cigarette is significantly higher than the female students (63.9% vs. 36.1%) (p=0.004). 43.7% (n=31) of 71 active smokers are using e-cigarettes as well. In the survey, 75% of the e-cigarette users claim that their cigarette deprivation stayed unchanged and 52.8% of the smokers state that they did not experience any side effects depending on e-cigarette usage. Both the students who never smoke and the ones who are active smokers state that they received information about e-cigarette generally from their friends (35.8% and 47.9%, respectively). Both groups think that e-cigarette is less harmful than cigarette. The active smokers have more information about the contents of e-cigarette when compared to the group of non-smokers (25.9 % vs. 46.5%) (p=0.004). Neither of these groups know that e-cigarette is banned by the Ministry of Health (p=0.377). Conclusion: The percentage of e-cigarette usage among the medical school students cannot be underestimated. This study reveals that students do not have sufficient information about the potential harms of e-cigarette. In addition to the informative and anti-smoking studies on cigarette usage, studies on the harms of e-cigarettes must also be carried out