Tobacco Smoking and Smokeless Tobacco Use among Domestic and International Medical Students in Hungary

Abstract

Background: 

Medical students as future physicians will have an important role in tobacco control; therefore, their tobacco use behavior is of particular interest. Consumption of combustible tobacco (cigarettes, waterpipes, cigars, and pipes) is prevalent throughout Europe, whereas smokeless tobacco use is common mainly in the Nordic countries. Objectives: Aim of our study is to assess tobacco use among medical students from different countries studying in Hungary with special focus on students from Norway where smokeless tobacco is widely used. A self-administered questionnaire survey was carried out to measure current tobacco use. Results: The survey included 1337 students from Hungary, Norway, Germany, and from other countries (Multinational group). The lowest prevalence of cigarette smoking was found among students from Norway (13.0%) when compared with students from Hungary (21.5%), Germany (34.2%), or with students in the Multinational group (29.5%). Conversely, prevalence of smokeless tobacco use was the highest among students from Norway (40.9%) when compared with students from Hungary (1.4%), Germany (2.6%), or with students in the Multinational group (6.2%). Waterpipes, cigars, and pipes were rarely used, mostly only 1–3 times a month in all groups. More than half of Norwegian students used some form of tobacco (smokeless and/or combustible tobacco). Conclusions: Considering the impending role of medical students in tobacco control, faculties of medicine should sensitize their students on the topic of possible health risks associated with combustible and smokeless tobacco products. Culturally tailored tobacco cessation programs need to be offered to medical students coming from different cultural backgrounds.

Keywords:

• Smokeless tobacco
• chewing tobacco
• snus
• cigarette smoking
• waterpipe
• cigar
• pipe
• medical students
• studying abroad

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank the students for participating in this study and assistants who enabled the data collection at all study sites.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Data availability

According to the ethical requirements in our ethics approval and following Hungarian data protection laws, only authorized persons have access to the data. Requests for more detailed information regarding the data and the survey instrument can be addressed to the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Statutory Health Insurance Saxony (Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Sachsen).