Impact of Smoking Status and Nicotine Dependence on Academic Performance of Health Sciences Students

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographics Data and Characteristics of the Respondents (n=501)

Variable	N (%)
Gender
Male	331 (66%)
Female	170 (34%)
What is your age range (year)
18–30	473 (95%)
31–40	26 (5%)
Current study year:
1st	87 (17%)
2nd	133 (27%)
3rd	118 (24%)
4th	103 (21%)
Internship	60 (12%)
Specialty
Anesthesia Technology	58 (12%)
Biomedical Technology	62 (12%)
Clinical Laboratory Sciences	69 (14%)
Dental & Oral Health Care	22 (4%)
Emergency Medical Services	58 (12%)
Health Information Management	61 (12%)
Pre-clinical	80 (16%)
Respiratory Care	55 (11%)
Nursing	36 (7%)
Employment status
No	430 (86%)
Yes	71 (14%)
Monthly income
Less than 1000 SR	28 (6%)
1000 SR	187 (37%)
1000–2000 SR	170 (34%)
2000–3000 SR	61 (12%)
More than 3000 SR	55 (11%)
BMI Category
Population BMI	25.14 (14.08)
Underweight (below 18.5)	35 (7%)
Healthy weight (18.5 to 24.9)	272 (54%)
Overweight (25 to 29.9)	141 (28%)
Obese (30 to 39.9)	33 (7%)
Extremely obese (40 or higher)	20 (4%)
Health status
Healthy	407 (81%)
Diabetes	25 (5%)
Asthma	20 (4%)
Depression	14 (3%)
Stomach disease	14 (3%)
Anaemia or other blood disease	9 (2%)
Cardiac disease	7 (1%)
High blood pressure	5 (1%)

Table 2 Academic Performance, Smoking History and Nicotine Dependence Indicators (n=501)

Indicator	Number (%) OR Mean ±SD
GPA
Less than 2.00	2 (0.5%)
2.00–2.74	13 (3%)
2.75–3.74	61 (12%)
3.75–4.49	248 (49.5%)
4.50–5.00	177 (35%)
How many days were you absent from classes during last semester
No absences	131 (26%)
1–2 days	164 (33%)
3–4 days	118 (24%)
5–6 days	45 (9%)
More than 6	43 (9%)
Academic warnings
No warnings	307 (61%)
1 warning	123 (25%)
2 warnings	48 (10%)
3 warnings	23 (5%)
Smoking history
Never smoke	275 (55%)
Former smoker	74 (15%)
Current smoker	152 (30%)
Pack per Year	7.5 ±8
Smoking duration for former smokers
One year or less	10 (14%)
Two to Three years	16 (22%)
Four to five years	16 (22%)
More than five years	32 (43%)
Smoking duration for current smokers
One year or less	10 (7%)
Two to Three years	55 (36%)
Four to five years	33 (22%)
Six to seven years	21 (14%)
Eight to nine years	17 (11%)
More than 10 years	16 (11%)
Light Smokers (1–10 cigarettes per day)	41 (27%)
Heavy smokers (> 30 cigarettes per day)	46 (30%)
Fagerstrom scale for current smokers (Total Score)
Very Low Dependence	28 (18%)
Low Dependence	32 (21%)
Medium Dependence	16 (11%)
High Dependence	45 (30%)
Very High Dependence	31 (20%)
Fagerstrom scale	5.14 ±2.6

Table 3 Non-Smokers versus Smokers Academic Performance (n=501)

Smoking Status and GPA
GPA	Less than 2.00	2.00–2.74	2.75–3.74	3.75–4.49	4.50–5.00	P-value < 0.001
Non-smokers	1 (0.3%)	7 (2.0%)	32 (9.2%)	168 (48.1%)	141 (40.4%)
Smokers	1 (0.7%)	6 (3.9%)	29 (19.1%)	80 (52.6%)	36 (23.7%)
How many days were you absent from classes during last semester
Absences days	No Absences	1–2 days	3–4 days	5–6 days	More than 6	P-value < 0.001
Non-smokers	109 (31.2%)	123 (35.2%)	65 (18.6%)	23 (6.6%)	29 (8.3%)
Smokers	22 (14.5%)	41 (27.0%)	53 (34.9%)	22 (14.5%)	14 (9.2%)
Have you received any academic warnings
Number of academic warnings	No academic warnings	1	2	3	P-value < 0.001
Non-smokers	237 (67.9%)	78 (22.3%)	24 (6.9%)	10 (2.9%)
Smokers	70 (46.1%)	45 (29.6%)	24 (15.8%)	13 (8.6%)

Figure 1 GPA by cigarettes smoked per day P-value: 0.036.

Figure 2 Days of absences by cigarettes smoked per day P-value: 0.017.

Figure 3 Academic warnings by cigarettes smoked per day P-value: 0.021.

Table 4 Association of Smoking History and Cigarette Consumption with All the Academic Performance Parameters

Variables	Beta (95% CI)	p-value
Pack per year
GPA	−1.96 (−3.5, −0.33)	0.01
Days absent last semester	0.47 (−0.70, 1.5)	0.45
Academic warnings received last semester	1.6 (0.29, 2.9)	0.01
Cigarette consumption
GPA	−0.68 (−1.2, −0.15)	0.01
Days absent last semester	0.48 (0.11, 0.85)	0.01
Academic warning received last semester	0.68 (0.25, 1.11)	0.002