Volume 26, Issue 126, August 2022

Prevalence of electronic and tobacco cigarette smoking among health sciences students in Saudi Arabia

Khalid Al-Regaiey^1♦, Sultan Meo¹, Mansour Alobrah², Bandar Aljammaz², Tareq Alalwan², Sulaiman Alzomia², Ahmad Alsobay², Muhammad Iqbal¹

¹Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
²College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Objevtives: Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) smoking or vaping is a trending habit and has gained popularity worldwide, irrespective of its harmful effects on health. This study intended to estimate the usage percentage and factors leading to the smoking of e-cigarettes among students of health sciences specialties. Methodology: A survey was carried out between June 2021 and September 2021 among students of different health disciplines. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of 18 validated questions was used. Results: Out of 600 randomly selected participants, a total of 364 responded. The overall prevalence of vaping was 29.9%, while conventional cigarette smoking was (13.5%). Vaping was more prevalent in male students (68%) compared to females (32%). A prevalence ratio of 2.42 indicated that vaping for male students was about 2.5 times higher than female students. We found that male students vape more than female students by 2.5 times, based on a calculated prevalence ratio of 2.42. The main reason for vaping was entertainment (45.1%), followed by the desire to quit regular cigarettes (28.8%). Conclusions: In conclusion, prevalence of e-cigarette smoking was higher than conventional cigarette smoking. It is crucial that health professional should have adequate knowledge and education about the harms and benefits of e-cigarettes.

Keywords: Conventional Cigarettes, Electronic Cigarettes, Prevalence, Health Science Students, Saudi Arabia

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms330e2391

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i126/ms330e2391

Published: 06 August 2022