Smoking behaviour among male students in a Saudi University

Smoking among university students is a social and public health problem worldwide. There is a high prevalence of smoking in Saudi Arabia.

To investigate the factors associated with the onset and cessation of smoking behaviour among university students in Saudi Arabia, and establish what contributes to changes of students' smoking behaviour.

A sample of 340 students from a national university in Saudi Arabia was randomly recruited and surveyed twice at a 5-month interval. Multiple ordinal logistic regression was run to compare changes in social, psychological and political factors and their impact on students' smoking behaviour.

We found that beliefs supporting nonsmoking (e.g., religious prohibition of smoking) correlated with changes in smoking behaviour among university students [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.23- 2.91]. There was a significant positive correlation between government policy and changes in male university students' smoking behaviour (AOR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.29-0.072). The psychological effect of smoking, such as releasing psychological pressures, was also correlated with changes in smoking behaviour (AOR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.21-0.47).

Our study suggests that the government can play a significant role in curbing smoking by strengthening beliefs promoting antismoking among university students, by developing corresponding policies against smoking, and by providing psychological consultation for them.