Current smoking practices among Jordanian college students: a pilot study

This pilot study gauges the smoking rates among college students in Jordan, attitudes toward tobacco policies, knowledge of smoking hazards, and identifies methods of quitting for former smokers. The sample (n=296) was taken from students attending a General Education course at the University of Jordan. Results show that the majority of respondents (70.3%) had never smoked, 2.8% were former smokers, while 26.9% were current smokers. For former smokers, the main reported reason for quitting was concern for health (63.6%) and the two methods used to quit smoking were: 1) cold turkey (by themselves) (66. 7%); and 2) cut-down smoking and then quit by themselves (33.3%). In addition, a higher level of knowledge related to health effects of tobacco and a higher need for tobacco-related policies was identified by the former/never smokers. Implications for health education are discussed.