Azhar Ahmad, Alsayed Nouf
Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2012;13(9):4245-8. doi: 10.7314/apjcp.2012.13.9.4245.
Women make up half of the world's population, and comprise 20% of the world's one billion smokers. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of smoking among female medical students in comparison to female non-medical students, and to assess the importance of medical education and knowledge in decreasing the prevalence of smoking among female university students in Saudi Arabia.
We used a self-administered questionnaire to collect cross-sectional data from a randomly selected sample of 320 female students attending King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah. Medical students comprised 50% of the sample.
A total of 310 students (96.9%) completed and returned the questionnaire. The prevalence of smoking was higher in non-medical female students (4.2%) compared to medical female students (0.32%) (P < 0.001).
The prevalence of smoking is low among female medical students compared to female non-medical students, presumably because of their awareness, level of education, and knowledge of the risks to health associated with smoking. Our study highlights the need for increased knowledge, health education, and awareness of the risks of smoking to reduce smoking among female university students.
女性占世界人口的一半，在全球10亿吸烟者中占20%。本研究的目的是评估与非医学专业女学生相比，医学专业女学生的吸烟率，并评估医学教育和知识在降低沙特阿拉伯女大学生吸烟率方面的重要性。
我们使用一份自填式问卷，从随机抽取的320名就读于吉达阿卜杜勒-阿齐兹国王大学的女学生样本中收集横断面数据。医学专业学生占样本的50%。
共有310名学生（96.9%）完成并返还了问卷。非医学专业女学生的吸烟率（4.2%）高于医学专业女学生（0.32%）（P<0.001）。
与非医学专业女学生相比，医学专业女学生的吸烟率较低，这可能是因为她们对吸烟相关健康风险的认识、教育水平和知识。我们的研究强调需要增加对吸烟风险的认识、健康教育，以减少女大学生吸烟。
