[Frequency of smoking tobacco among the students of the last year of the Faculty of Health Sciences].

Smoking tobacco is one of the most frequent and most dangerous addictions among the Poles, at the same time--despite the many dramatic results--it is the most belittled of threats. It is difficult to understand especially those smokers who, due to their future or present job should be free from tobacco smoke. The aim of the work was to establish the participation of the smoke inhalers among the students of the last years of studies, focusing on the particular socio-demographic features. 162 students were tested, that means all who are the last year students at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Medical University of Lodz. Using the auditoria survey, the studies were carried out between the 1st to 15th March 2007. The filled in surveys were handed back in by 92.6% of students (150 female and male students). Among the 150 of the tested, 58 people confessed to smoking (38.6%). The ratio of the smoking female students was 34.0% and smoking male students 46.4%. In the past, there were close to 65% of smokers among the tested. Over 54% of the asked people smoked their first cigarette in the high school. Majority of smokers (30.5%) smoked from 5 to 10 cigarettes a day. Majority of smokers (70.4%) confirmed they smoked everywhere where they wished. From among 58 smokers, 4 people could be pharmacologically addicted to nicotine. Almost all of them would like to quit smoking. The ratio of smoking students of the last years of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Medical University of Lodz was very high in 2007. There was practically every second male student who smoked and close to every third female one. Great majority of the smokers put the health of the people around them who did not smoke at risk because they smoked everywhere they pleased. There is a need to undertake some efficient preventive actions directed at the problem of smoking among the students, especially of the departments which produce the personnel of the health centres.