Smoking habits, attitudes and determinants among university aged population: Comparison of pharmacy and non-pharmacy students from a private university in Lebanon

Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence of smoking among pharmacy students and to analyse how smoking affects pharmacy students’ attitudes towards smoking cessation practices. Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed to students from five schools at the Lebanese International University as part of a cross-sectional study. It looked into sociodemographic identities, smoking attitudes and beliefs, and pharmacy students’ smoking cessation consultation procedures. Results: A total of 1372 students were enrolled in the study (159 pharmacy students and 1213 non-pharmacy students). Almost half of the participants (45.0%) were current smokers, with males accounting for the majority. There was a substantial correlation between knowledge of smoking's health implications and smoking status (p = 0.021). Nonsmoking pharmacy students were more likely than smokers to offer cessation advice (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: A high smoking prevalence was determined among students, which should be addressed by boosting tobacco awareness efforts and enforcing strict anti-smoking policies on college premises.