Smoking and smoking addiction in future physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic; an example of a medical school in Turkey

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ABSTRACT Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of cigarette and other tobacco use of medical students, and to determine the levels of smoking addiction and to evaluate the effect of the pandemic. Methods The cross-sectional study was carried out in January 2022. Results A total of 487 students, the lifetime tobacco use and current tobacco use prevalence was 62% and 40.2%. Current (past 1 month) electronic cigarette, cigar or pipe, hookah, cigarette prevalence was 2.7%, 6.8%, 11.1%, 39.4% respectively and daily cigarette 21.1%. It was found that 19.4% of students had moderate to high level of addiction. Seventy percent of students with moderate to high addiction and 41% of students with low addiction reported increased smoking. Most of the daily smokers stated that their desire to smoke did not decrease due to COVID-19, and 46.6% increased smoking. Forty percent of those with moderate to high levels of addiction and 6% of those with low addiction thought that the disease would be severe if they were infected with COVID-19. Conclusions It was found that students with moderate to high level of addiction increased smoking more and their attempts to quit smoking were less. Students should be provided with support to quit smoking.