Emerging Nicotine and Tobacco Products among Medical Students and Physicians at Ain Shams University: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice

Yousef, Shaimaa Samy; Mostafa, Nayera Samy; Anwar, Wagida Abdelrahman

doi:10.21608/ejcm.2023.207639.1255

Emerging Nicotine and Tobacco Products among Medical Students and Physicians at Ain Shams University: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Community, Environmental and Occupational Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain- Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

² Community, environmental and occupational Medicine department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

10.21608/ejcm.2023.207639.1255

Abstract

Background: Emerging nicotine and tobacco products such as Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) and Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs) have become popular worldwide. This study aimed to measure the knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical students and physicians at Ain Shams University (ASU) toward ENDS and HTPs and to identify the factors associated with their use.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 407 undergraduate medical students and 111 physicians at ASU. The data was collected using an electronic questionnaire including socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and practice of participants toward ENDS and HTPs, and factors associated with their use.

Results: The mean age of the studied participants was (22.7±5.39), (63.5%) were females, and (7.3%) were current smokers. Among participants, (84.4%) and (19.5%) had previously heard of ENDS and HTPs respectively, and the most commonly reported source of information about ENDS and HTPs was friends (61.6%) and (63.4%), respectively. More than half of the participants agreed that ENDS and HTPs encourage smoking initiation in those who have never smoked. Furthermore, (4.6%) and (11.9%) of participants who had previously heard of ENDS and HTPs had used them, respectively. Physicians were more knowledgeable about ENDS than medical students (P = 0.008).

Conclusion: Most participants had a negative attitude toward ENDS and HTPs. As all ENDS smokers were medical students rather than physicians who were more knowledgeable about ENDS and HTPs, health education programs should be provided to medical students in general. Counseling should be specifically started for ENDS and HTPs users.

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