Abstract
BackgroundThe devastating Syrian crisis has raised concern regarding the social acceptance of smoking especially with water pipe use becoming a growing epidemic. We aim to determine the prevalence of cigarette and water pipe smoking among university students, along with identifying the addictive behavior among university students. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted at the Syrian Private University during World No-Tobacco Day, in Damascus, Syria during the war crisis. The survey consists of 4 sections: socio-demographic information, Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence, attitude towards water pipes, and perspective about smoking. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Sciences version 25.0 (SPSS Inc., United States.) ResultsOf the 622 participants, 429 (69%) were males with a mean age of 21.3 ± 3.1 years. The prevalence of tobacco smoking was 320 (51.4%), 208 (23.8%) for cigarettes, and 112 (18.0%) for water pipe. Smoking was significantly higher among male non-medical university students. The majority were low to moderate dependent when assessed by the Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence. ConclusionsThis study showed a very high prevalence of smoking indicating the need for smoking cessation programs, access to effective quitting treatments, and mass media campaigns to diminish smoking among the youth.
Highlights
An estimated 80% of smokers live in low and middle-income countries [1]
We aim to determine the prevalence of cigarette and water pipe smoking among Syrian Private University (SPU) students and assess the nicotine dependence on cigarette smokers, and identify the habits, attitudes, and practices related to smoking behaviors
Our findings are higher than a study conducted during the crisis [4], and much higher than studies reported pre-war [16, 17] Neighboring studies revealed lower prevalence of smokers compared with our study: Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey [18, 19, 20, 21].This high prevalence of smoking among Syrian undergraduates can be attributed to the psychological impacts of the catastrophic war
Summary
An estimated 80% of smokers live in low and middle-income countries [1]. The Middle East (ME) has a high prevalence of smoking, Jordan (35.0%), Saudi Arabia (30.4%), and Lebanon (26.3%), respectively [2]. In 2007 a study conducted at the same institution as the current study showed that 20.7% of students smoke [3], during the crisis (2014) another study in a governmental university reported 24.7% smoke cigarettes, and 30.4% smoke water pipe [4]. We aim to determine the prevalence of cigarette and water pipe smoking among university students, along with identifying the addictive behavior among university students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Syrian Private University during World No-Tobacco Day, in Damascus, Syria during the war crisis. The survey consists of 4 sections: socio-demographic information, Fagerstro€m Test of Nicotine Dependence, attitude towards water pipes, and perspective about smoking. The prevalence of tobacco smoking was 320 (51.4%), 208 (23.8%) for cigarettes, and 112 (18.0%) for water pipe. Conclusions: This study showed a very high prevalence of smoking indicating the need for smoking cessation programs, access to effective quitting treatments, and mass media campaigns to diminish smoking among the youth
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