Attitudes Of Medical Students Research Articles

Self-Assessment of the Quality of Life and the Formation of a Healthy Lifestyle of Medical Students

The purpose of research is to analyze sample data on self-assessment of health and formation of healthy lifestyle attitudes of medical students. Methods. The sample structure is characterized by the distribution of respondents by gender, the course of study at a university and college, and the age of 15–18 years. Data collection was carried out by a questionnaire method using a direct survey of respondents. Anthropometry was performed with the subsequent calculation of the body mass index (BMI) of the respondents. The assessment of the quality of life was carried out using the SF-36 questionnaire on indicators of physical and mental components of health, general health, vital activity and mental health. Results. The respondents were divided into 4 groups: 1 – boys studying at a university, 2 – girls studying at a university, 3 – boys studying at a college and 4 – girls studying at a college. It was found that the surveyed girls have a lower self-assessment of health, more than 30 % of university and college students rate their health as mediocre and poor, and among young men this indicator was 25,0 % and 20,0 %, respectively. The physical component of health differed slightly in the groups. The psychological component of health in girls was: 32,98 ± 1.35 (in high school) and 38,98 ± 1,14 (in college) versus 41,10 ± 2,22 for boys in high school and 44,61 ± 2,12 in college. The indicator of the general state of health was 66,50 ± 4,01; 58,12 ± 2,86; 65,40 ± 4,48 and 63,85 ± 1,95 in representatives of the analyzed groups, respectively; mental health – 63,38 ± 3,83; 49,09 ± 2,63; 64,6 ± 4,48 and 60,34 ± 2,21. Conclusion. Analysis of the data obtained indicates that there are gender differences in self-assessment of health, represented by lower indicators in girls. Moreover, students at the university show this more clearly, which requires more in-depth study. It has been established that first-year students of KSMU have motivation to lead a healthy lifestyle and promote it among the population, and it can be traced more clearly among students of the university.

Cohort Assessment of Pharmacy and Medical Student Attitudes From Baseline to Program Completion

Cohort Assessment of Pharmacy and Medical Student Attitudes From Baseline to Program Completion

Satisfaction level among rural and urban physical therapy students regarding their knowledge and clinical practice: a cross-sectional study

Background: Physical therapy (PT) is an emerging field in Pakistan. Numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate the level of satisfaction and attitude of medical students and nurses towards their clinical practice environment, but there are few studies on physical therapy students. Objective: To assess student satisfaction levels among rural and urban physical therapy students regarding their knowledge and clinical practice. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted with a sample size of 250 PT students of different medical colleges in Punjab through convenient sampling technique. Physical Therapy Student Attitudes Questionnaire (PSAQ) was used. After taking consent, data was collected and analyzed by SPSS version 26. Results: The study comprised of 250 participants, where the rural were 148 and urban were 102 with a mean age of 23.40±3.60 years. Results showed that there was neither a significant association (p-value=0.78) between gender and rural and urban students' satisfaction levels nor a significant association (p-value=0.43) between age and rural and urban students' satisfaction. The total mean score of rural and urban students was 87.91 and 89.83 respectively with a p- value = 0.39. Conclusion: There was no significant difference between the overall satisfaction level of urban and rural students regarding their knowledge and clinical practice. Both genders and ages had no effect on students' satisfaction levels who belong to different residential areas nor did academic years of study and socioeconomic status affected the satisfaction level of students belonging to urban and rural areas.

Attitudes of Undergraduate Medical Students towards Personal and Professional Advancement (PPA): A Cross- sectional Study at School of Medicine, Maldives National University

Introduction: Personal and Professional Advancement module (PPA) is introduced in today’s updated medical school curriculum. The main purpose of PPA is to assess student’s personal growth and professional development. It emphasizes the importance of “hidden curriculum” as part of medical training. The success story of a modern-day physician center is substantially based on the knowledge of proper professional skills. PPA is introduced to achieve the general objective of producing medical doctors who are caring, holistic and professional in their approach. Therefore, it has become extremely important to start a professional skills course early on in undergraduate medical study, but to date, this has been given relatively little or no emphasis. In the present study, an attempt was made to assess the attitude of undergraduate medical students towards learning the PPD module
 Methods: A total of 130 undergraduate medical students at School of Medicine were included in the study. This study was based on an anonymous self-administered questionnaire on attitudes of undergraduate medical students towards personal and professional advancement module. The data were collected from all the batches of students. All participants (n=130) had completed the questionnaires completely, therefore, 100% of samples were included for data analysis. Data was coded and entered into Microsoft Excel software and analyzed using SPSS version 22.0
 Results: The content that was covered by the PPA sessions satisfied the needs of the 46.2% of students, 44.6% were not sure and 9.2% were not satisfied. The students seem to embrace the course better as they go into clinical practice.
 Conclusion: This study provides perceptions of undergraduate medical students towards PPA module learning. We suggest the integration of PPA module curriculum into the undergraduate medical syllabus, with an acceptable, focused, and interesting teaching module.

Oral Cancer Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices among Dental and Medical Students in Saudi Arabia

Background: Oral cancer had important public health concern, ranking as the world’s 16thmost common cancer. Despite being highly preventable, oral cancer is associated with multiple risk factors and a high mortality rate and contributes significantly to the global cancer burden. The 5-year survival rate for oral cancer remains low (50%), and it has not improved in recent decades. The prognosis is relatively good when caught in the early stages, but it deteriorates dramatically in the advanced stages. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate and assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of dental and medical students in Saudi Arabia towards oral cancer. Methods: A pre-designed questionnaire had been distributed to 1033 dental and medical student in Saudi Arabia, and data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0. The participants’ confidentiality was maintained. Results: This study included 1033 participants (males = 558 [54.0%] and females = 475[46.0%]). Medical students represented 734 (71.1%) of the participants and dental students represented 299 (28.9%) of the participants. Overall, 686 (66.4%) participants thought they had good aware about oral cancer, and 771 (74.6%) were concerned about its prevention. Both dental and medical students thought that oral cancer is more common in people over the age of 60 years, with no difference between medical and dental students (degrees off reedom [df] = 1, p = 0.793). Regarding risk factors, both smoking tobacco and alcohol consumption were mentioned by 66.1% of the sample, with no difference between medical and dental students (df = 1, p = 1.000). In addition, 29.9% of students identified the buccalmucosa as the most common site of oral cancer, with no difference between medical and dental students (df = 1, p = 0.691). No significant differences in the mean total score (number of correct answers) between dental students and also medical students at each study level except for the fifth-year students. At this level, the mean score was higher in dental students (6.05±1.88) than medical students (5.13±2.01) (p< 0.01). Conclusions: Medical and dental students had similar knowledge, attitude and practices towards oral cancer. Furthermore, fifth-year dental students from the northern region of Saudi Arabiah ad the highest mean score on the questionnaire.

Personality traits and attitude towards euthanasia among medical students in Serbia.

Various factors may influence the attitudes of medical students towards euthanasia, including personal values, beliefs, and personality traits. The objective of this study was to examine the attitudes of 2nd and 5th year medical students about euthanasia and the relationship between these attitudes and students' personality traits. Medical students from the Universities of Kragujevac and Belgrade, Serbia, participated in this study. A questionnaire was administered assessing attitudes toward euthanasia and student personality traits (honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness using the HEXACO-60). More than 50% of students in the second year and 60% of students in the fifth year were supportive of euthanasia. Students in the 5th year were 2.5 times more likely to express a concern that euthanasia needs to be clearly regulated by law compared to students in the second year. Adjusted analyses indicated that lower levels of honesty-humility and emotionality were positively correlated with students' belief that euthanasia should be legalized. Many medical students in Serbia have a positive attitude towards euthanasia. It is important to consider the possible influences of culture, religion, and the law on attitudes towards euthanasia. Undergraduate medical training should include more hours dedicated to palliative care and end-of-life topics to raise awareness of patients' preferences in this regard.

Assessing disparities in medical students' knowledge and attitude about monkeypox: a cross-sectional study of 27 countries across three continents.

The recent monkeypox (Mpox) outbreak confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) underscores the importance of evaluating the knowledge and attitude of medical students toward emerging diseases, given their potential roles as healthcare professionals and sources of public information during outbreaks. This study aimed to assess medical students' knowledge and attitude about Mpox and to identify factors affecting their level of knowledge and attitude in low-income and high-income countries. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 11,919 medical students from 27 countries. A newly-developed validated questionnaire was used to collect data on knowledge (14 items), attitude (12 items), and baseline criteria. The relationship between a range of factors with knowledge and attitude was studied using univariate and multivariate analyses. 46% of the study participants were males; 10.7% were in their sixth year; 54.6% knew about smallpox; 84% received the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine; and 12.5% had training on Mpox. 55.3% had good knowledge of Mpox and 51.7% had a positive attitude towards it. Medical students in their third, fifth, or sixth year high- income countries who obtained information on Mpox from friends, research articles, social media and scientific websites were positive predictors for good knowledge. Conversely, being male or coming from high-income countries showed a negative relation with good knowledge about Mpox. Additionally, a positive attitude was directly influenced by residing in urban areas, being in the fifth year of medical education, having knowledge about smallpox and a history of receiving the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. Receiving information about Mpox from social media or scientific websites and possessing good knowledge about Mpox were also predictors of a positive attitude. On the other hand, being male, employed, or receiving a training program about Mpox were inversely predicting positive attitude about Mpox. There were differences in knowledge and attitude towards Mpox between medical students in low and high-income countries, emphasizing the need for incorporating epidemiology of re-emerging diseases like Mpox into the medical curriculum to improve disease prevention and control.

Impact of Educational Intervention on Knowledge and Attitude of Undergraduate Medical Students Regarding Pharmaceutical Promotion

Background: Promotional activities conducted by pharmaceutical industries are highly successful to alter physicians' prescribing habit. Undergraduate medical curriculum does not make students to deal with this unwarranted effect. Educational intervention might be a key to address this crucial issue. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of educational intervention on knowledge and attitude of medical students regarding pharmaceutical promotion.
 Materials and methods: This interventional research was conducted from February 2016 to February 2017. 4th year MBBS students of the four medical colleges of Dhaka city were the study population. A baseline assessment on knowledge and perception of the 4th year MBBS medical students' of the included medical colleges (Control and intervention) was conducted by a questionnaire survey. Number of respondents in control and intervention group was 156 and 243 respectively in pre test. Then, a package of educational intervention including interactive lecture and practical session was delivered to intervention group. After I month of intervention, post intervention data had been collected from undergraduate students to evaluate the effect of intervention on their knowledge and perception by using same questionnaire. Number of respondents in control and intervention group was 152 and 227 respectively in post test. Attitude of the undergraduate students of intervention group was evaluated by a structured questionnaire after one month of intervention. Total 227 students were participated in this survey.
 Results: Proportion of students regarding knowledge and perception about pharmaceutical promotion is significantly increased after intervention (p<0.001). Attitude of undergraduate students of intervention group on 10 different case scenarios related to pharmaceutical promotion have been changed after intervention and it were statistically significant in all 10 case scenarios.
 Conclusion: The conducted educational intervention was found effective at undergraduate level to modify knowledge and attitude about pharmaceutical promotion.
 Chatt Maa Shi Hosp Med Coll J; Vol.22 (1); January 2023; Page 8-13

A study of the competencies, morals and personal attitudes of medical students towards older people

A study of the competencies, morals and personal attitudes of medical students towards older people

Vaccination as a Significant Factor Influencing the Psychoemotional State of Medical Students During the Sars-Cov-2 Pandemic: An International Aspect.

The rapid spread of SARS-COV-2, characterized by its severe course in the absence of effective specific treatment for this infection, may become a significant risk factor for psycho-emotional disorders' emergence during this pandemic. One of the vulnerable groups in the current situation are first-year medical students, whose problems associated with an unfavorable sanitary-epidemiological situation and an increased infection risk are compounded by the difficulties of adapting to specific professional environments. In this situation, along with strict adherence to nonspecific prevention methods, the mass student SARS-COV-2 vaccination acquires particular importance. To compare the attitudes of first-year medical students in Russia and Azerbaijan toward SARS-COV-2 immunization and to assess the vaccination impact on the student's psycho-emotional state during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. The study involved 594 first-year students at the Moscow and Baku branches of Sechenov University. The Google Forms platform was used to conduct an anonymous sociological survey. To compare the psychoemotional state of vaccinated freshmen and non-vaccinated students, we used the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI, to assess reactive anxiety and the Beck Depression Inventory test - to diagnose depressive symptoms. The online survey was conducted during the fourth wave of coronavirus infection. WHO official sources were used to analyze the current epidemiological SARS-COV-2 situation during the study data provided by the Russian Federal Service on Customers' Rights Protection and Human Well-Being Surveillance and JHU CSSE. Statistical analysis was carried out using RStudio. The study results showed that vaccination coverage of first-year students at the Moscow branch of Sechenov University during the fourth wave of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic was 42,9±5,13%, at the Baku branch - 69,6±5,86%. The lack of reliable information about anticovid vaccines, indicated by a third of all respondents, may largely determine the motivated participation in the vaccination SARS-COV-2 campaign. The role of medical school in imparting knowledge about active SARS-COV-2 immunization to medical students was found to be insignificant. It was shown that the percentage of students willing to recommend SARS-COV-2 vaccination to the people around them and thereby contribute to increasing collective immunity level significantly depends on the percentage of students vaccinated. It was proved that vaccinated students were characterized by significantly greater psychological stability regardless of their study place. Vaccination is not only a good preventive measure against the infection spread but also a significant factor in stabilizing the psycho-emotional state of first-year students, which significantly affects the quality of their educational process and its effectiveness.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of white coat use among medical students during clinical practice (LAUNDERKAP): A cross-sectional study

Recent studies found white coats to be reservoirs for bacteria and medical students did not conform to proper hygiene measures when using these white coats. We investigated the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of medical students toward white coat use in clinical settings (LAUNDERKAP). A validated, online-based survey was disseminated to 670 students from four Malaysian medical schools via random sampling. Scores were classified into good, moderate, or poor knowledge and practice, and positive, neutral, or negative attitude. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to analyze the relationship between demographic variables and knowledge, attitude, and practice scores. A total of 492/670 students responded (response rate: 73.4%). A majority showed negative attitudes (n=246, 50%), poor knowledge (n=294, 59.8%), and moderate practice (n=239, 48.6%). Senior and clinical year students had more negative attitudes. Male students had higher knowledge, while students from private medical schools and preclinical years had better practice. There was a significant relationship between attitude and practice (r=0.224, P<.01), as well as knowledge and practice (r=0.111, P<.05). The results demonstrate the need for more education to improve medical students' infection control practices. Our results can also guide decision-making among administrators on the role of white coats as part of medical student attire.

Assessment of Knowledge and Perception Regarding Deep Brain Stimulation Among Medical Students in Saudi Arabia.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical procedure approved for treating psychiatric and movement disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD), essential tremor, dystonia, and other neurological conditions. The widespread use of DBS may not be reflected in the medical education curricula in Saudi universities, thus jeopardizing future patients' access to it. This study aims to investigate the knowledge and attitudes of medical students toward DBS as a therapeutic option. A descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-basedstudy was conducted. The survey was distributed on online platforms to acquire responses from different regions of Saudi Arabia. The target population was medical students in the preclinical and clinical phases of medical education from different regions of Saudi Arabia. A total of 1075 medical students from various medical schools in Saudi Arabia were included. More than half of the students aged 21 to 23 (50.1%) were females (63.2%). More than half of the students have correctly recognized DBS as aFood and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatment (59.7%). Only 20.1% of the students stated that they received adequate education/training about DBS. About 53.8% of the students had self-rated their knowledge as poor, whereas 20.6% had rated their knowledge as good.A negative bias was more observed among the older students and students with a family history of DBS treatment.Half of the participants (54.1%) indicated that DBS is associated with severe adverse effects. A significant association between the level of knowledge about DBS and the academic level was observed. Almost half of the medical students had poor knowledge and unfavorable attitude towardDBS in Saudi Arabia. The current medical curricula are incommensurable with the clinical implications of DBS, which may deny future patients from such an effective therapeutic option. We recommend incorporating DBS teaching sessions to enhance future physicians' awareness and understanding of the benefits of this intervention.

KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE ABOUT OBESITY AMONG MBBS STUDENTS

Obesity carries significant health implications for both chronic diseases and mortality. The importance of obesity as a health problem in the US is an increasing evident. Studies undertaken in metropolitan cities of Pakistan had revealed an increased incidence of obesity in school children. The lives of medical students are shaped by work, college and social environment that promote inactivity and overeating, leading them to become obese. This study was carried out to evaluate knowledge and attitude of medical students regarding obesity.

Attitudes of medical students in Khartoum, Sudan towards the doctor-patient relationship: a cross-sectional study.

The doctor-patient relationship is essential to the delivery of high-quality medical care. A strong doctor-patient relationship that improves patient outcomes and satisfaction depends on effective communication. The purpose of this study was to assess medical students' attitudes toward the doctor-patient relationship during their clinical years at the University of Khartoum. We also looked at how gender and study year affected patient-centeredness. The study was conducted on medical students in their clinical years from December 2020 to March 2021. Students were selected from years 3 to 6. A total of 353 medical students constituted the study sample. The cross-sectional study utilized the Patient Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) for the measurement of student attitudes towards the doctor-patient relationship. PPOS scores are calculated as a mean score that ranges from 1 (indicating doctor or disease-centered inclinations) to 6 (indicating patient-centered or egalitarian inclinations). Medical students' demographic data was collected, including their gender, age and study year. A total of 313 students completed the survey (response rate: 89%). The average total PPOS score and the scores for the caring and sharing subscales for the entire cohort were 4.08 ± 0.53, 4.43 ± 0.58, and 3.72 ± 0.72, respectively. Female gender was significantly associated with more patient-centered attitudes (p<0.001). When compared to the start of their clinical curriculum, students' attitudes were significantly more patient-centered by the conclusion of their studies (p<0.001). A satisfactory level of patient-centeredness was demonstrated by medical students at the University of Khartoum, and gender had an impact on this quality. Additional consideration should be given to the finding that students' orientations were more patient-centered in the caring dimension and less so in the sharing one. Once addressed, improvements in that area could create an environment that enhances attitudes among students in the sharing domain, with great potential gains to patients.

Programmatic Assessment for the Specialty of Community Medicine for Undergraduate Medical Students

Programmatic assessment is a holistic and unified approach to assessing the learning progress of medical students. The high-stakes decision to pass or fail medical students in the specialty of community medicine that depends on the performance in summative assessment. This makes the entire process of summative assessment quite challenging for medical students, as they cannot afford any mistakes on the day of summative assessment. We propose a programmatic assessment model for community medicine, by which we can overcome the prevailing shortcomings and take high-stakes decisions based on the longitudinal overview of multiple activities, rather than just performance on summative assessments. The proposed programmatic assessment for the specialty of community medicine will essentially have all these elements, which the community medicine department must cover with an intention to address subject-specific competencies. In conclusion, programmatic assessment has emerged as a valuable approach in the field of community medicine, as it is a comprehensive and systematic method to assess the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of medical students in different aspects of the specialty. Further, by ensuring integration between different assessment methods, we can longitudinally track the performance of students and eventually perform a more holistic evaluation of the competencies expected of medical students.

Knowledge and Attitude of Ain Shams University Medical Students towards Artificial Intelligence and its Application in Medical Education and Practice

Knowledge and Attitude of Ain Shams University Medical Students towards Artificial Intelligence and its Application in Medical Education and Practice

Evaluating the Amyloidosis Speakers Bureau: the influence of amyloidosis patients' narratives on medical students' knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intent.

Background: Amyloidosis is a complex multi-systemic disease. Lack of knowledge about amyloidosis and subsequent mis- or under-diagnosis are major obstacles to treatment, which result in life-threatening organ damage, morbidity, and mortality. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of amyloidosis patients' narratives on medical students. Methods: The Amyloidosis Speakers Bureau (ASB) arranges for amyloidosis patients to speak about their diagnostic and treatment experiences with medical students. Using a randomized post-test only experiment, we compared the effectiveness of patients' narratives between two groups (treatment and control). Outcome measures included medical students' intent to actively communicate with patients, acquire knowledge about amyloidosis, and reconsider diagnoses when warranted. Results: The treatment group (those who listened to an ASB patient speaker) had higher mean differences on all measures, including the desire to improve communication with patients, acquire and apply knowledge of amyloidosis, and willingness to reconsider diagnoses when symptoms are puzzling. Conclusions: ASB patient educators widened awareness of an under-diagnosed disease. Listening to a patient's narrative was associated with positive attitudes toward communication with patients, interest in acquiring and applying knowledge of amyloidosis, and humility about diagnosis. Narrative and persuasion theory are used to explain this quantitative evidence of the power of patient narratives.

Medical student attitudes and perceptions of psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Although certain psychedelic agents may soon gain federal approval for use in treating specific psychiatric conditions, the utilization of such therapies in clinical practice will depend largely on the attitudes of healthcare providers. Therefore, this study assesses the current attitudes, knowledge, exposure, and acceptance of psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapies amongst medical students. In fall semester of 2022, surveys were emailed to 580 medical students attending medical institutions in the state of Nevada in the United States. Utilizing knowledge and attitude items from previously published studies, the survey collected demographic data and assessed student attitudes with five-point Likert-scale variables. Data was analyzed using summary statistics and Kruskal-Wallis tests for differences in mean survey scores (i.e., attitudes towards psychedelics) based on demographic factors. 132 medical students participated in the survey (22.7% response rate). Medical students demonstrated overall positive attitudes towards psychedelics, lack of knowledge regarding psychedelics, and uncertainty towards neurocognitive risks of psychedelics. Overall, 78.6% of students agreed that psychedelics have therapeutic potential, while 95.2% agreed that psychedelics deserves further research in assessing this potential. Additionally, there was no statistically significant effect of demographic variables, including age, sex, and level of training, on attitudes. Although students are overall curious and optimistic about psychedelics, they demonstrate a lack of knowledge regarding recent research efforts. As the field of psychiatry prepares to implement psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapies, education and awareness of such agents should be initiated early on in medical clinical training.

Acceptance and attitude of Lebanese lawyers and medical students toward surrogate pregnancy: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundLittle is known about the acceptance of specific populations of decision makers in Lebanon regarding surrogacy. This study aimed to explore the acceptance and attitude of Lebanese Lawyers and Medical Students regarding surrogacy.MethodsIn total 248 medical students and 204 lawyers completed a questionnaire to assess socio-demographic data, attitude toward surrogacy, and three different clinical scenarios to assess patterns of thinking. Finally, we validated a scale to assess the acceptance of surrogacy in these two populations.ResultsConcerning medical students, 54.8% reported they were supportive of surrogacy, 35.1% were neutral and 10.1% were against. For lawyers, 52.9% were supportive, 25% were neutral and 22.1% were against. Lawyers were more likely to be against surrogacy (p = 0.001).After conducting a multivariate analysis on the whole studied population to find predictors of acceptance of surrogacy, the best predictors were being single (OR 0.415; 95% CI 0.228, 0.753; p < 0.01), a supportive reported attitude regarding surrogacy (OR 5.464; 95% CI 3.65, 8.13; p < 0.001) and believing that surrogacy is a solution worth discussing in Lebanon (OR 4.186; 95% CI 1.709, 10.256; p < 0.01).Concerning the clinical scenarios, they showed that lawyers were more likely to oppose abortion regardless of the reason (p < 0.01). Also, in a case of gestational surrogacy, lawyers were more likely to give the right to the gestational carrier to keep the baby compared to medical students (p < 0.001).ConclusionIn conclusion, this study shows that only a minority of medical students and lawyers in Lebanon oppose surrogate pregnancy which warrants exploration of the perspective of other populations of decision makers in Lebanon to better guide legislations.

Prevalence of smoking cigarettes and beliefs regarding smoking habits among medical students: a cross-sectional study in Sudan.

Smoking is a common problem in university students worldwide. Smoking is one of the most dangerous social phenomena and has a significant impact on public health. This study investigated the beliefs and attitudes of medical students toward smoking in Sudan. A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students at Al Neelain University, Sudan, from March to June 2022 using a web-based questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of eight items on demographic characteristics and 13 on the beliefs and attitudes toward smoking. Other data included smoking status, smoking habits, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and smoking duration. Data analysis was performed descriptively, and chi-square test and logistic regression were conducted using SPSS version 24. Statistical significance was set at 0.05. A total of 336 students participated in this study, and the smoking prevalence was 48.8% (41.1% in men and 7.7% in women). In total, 76.8% reported smoking daily at a rate of 5-10 cigarettes per day. In terms of students' beliefs about smoking, 86.8% disagreed with selling cigarettes at the university. Of the respondents, 68.4% did not approve smoking on campus. There was a relationship between smoking habits and the age group of 22-25 years, which was the highest smoking category among students (p-value = 0.01). The prevalence of cigarette smoking among medical students is disturbing, particularly as they are future doctors. There is a need to include plans to reduce smoking among students that can be incorporated into courses and special programs.