Perceptions of lung cancer and smoking among college students in Jordan

A descriptive, cross-sectional design was adopted to identify college students' knowledge and perceptions of lung cancer and smoking. A random sample of 400 students at the Jordan University of Science and Technology in northern Jordan was subjected to the Lung Cancer and Smoking Survey, which is based on the Health Belief Model. The results show that the prevalence of current smoking is 16.5% and that the prevalence of former smoking is 10.0%. Most (75.3%) of the respondents were aware of the prevalence of lung cancer. Almost all (90.3%) were aware of the cancer risk from air pollution, but fewer (57.5%) were concerned about the risk caused by side-stream smoke. Most disagreed that lung cancer could be easily cured. Former smokers were more knowledgeable than current smokers about the health hazards of smoking, and those who never smoked were more knowledgeable than both. Engineering students were more likely to agree with the benefits of quitting smoking than were medical or science students. Addiction and friends were the reasons most frequently given for not quitting smoking.