Smoking patterns of university students in Eskişehir, Turkey

Over the last decade, there has been a major decline in the prevalence of smoking among Western populations whilst in most developing countries there is a serious health problem of increasing smoking prevalence, especially among young age groups. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of smoking among university students in Eskisehir in Turkey and to study the effects of some socio-demographic factors on the habit of smoking. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 1474 students (591 female and 883 male). This survey instrument contained a section soliciting socio-demographic information which was followed by questions relating to the students' smoking behaviour and the presence of a significant individual who has an effect on the smoking and drinking behaviour of the student. Multiple logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios for the independent effects of the socio-demographic factors. The prevalence of smoking among university students was 42.5% (being highest among the students of the Faculty of Arts and lowest among the students of the medical faculty (60.9% vs 33.9%). The results of the analysis indicated that: being male, studying arts or education as opposed to medicine, being a final year student, being resident with friends, having a father with a lower education level and have a family member(s) who smokes were independently associated with smoking. The prevalence of smoking was greatest among those who drank alcohol (OR = 5.20). When comparing our results with reports from other countries, we conclude that the habit of cigarette smoking is one of the most important public health problems in Turkey.