Role of family and peers in the initiation and continuation of smoking behavior of future physicians

• Main Authors: Mausumi Basu (Author), Palash Das (Author), Sukumar Mitra (Author), Srijit Ghosh (Author), Ranabir Pal (Author), Subrata Bagchi (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications, 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0975-7406; 0976-4879; 10.4103/0975-7406.84452
• Keywords: Medical students; parental influence; peer pressure; smoking; Pharmacy and materia medica; RS1-441; Analytical chemistry; QD71-142
• Source: Journal of Pharmacy and Bioallied Sciences, Vol 3, Iss 3, Pp 407-411 (2011)

Background : Globally researchers have long back noted that the trend of substance use was on the rise particularly in the student population. Objective : To find out the prevalence and determinants of smoking practices among undergraduate medical students. Materials and Methods : A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical (MBBS) students of a tertiary care medical college using a predesigned and pretested semi-structured self-administered anonymous questionnaire. Results : Among 182 participants, 55 (30%) were smokers; 85.45% were regular smokers; majority in the age group 20-22 years (70%); mostly males (98%). No significant difference was observed among urban and rural students, and religion had no association. The practice of smoking for last 6 months to 1 year was in 43.6% and 40% smoked less than 6 months. Half of them (50.9%) smoked 5-9 cigarettes per day. Peer pressure was significantly high in smokers (83.6%); 42% had other addictions. The effect of parental smoking on smoking habits of the participants was quite evident among smokers (82%), which was significantly higher than nonsmokers (χ2=63.49, P<0.05). Peer pressure was the most important risk factor (57.69%) of initiation of smoking habit followed by parental influence (16.49%). Among morbidities of smokers, 60.6% were suffering from regular cough, 6% from bronchitis, and 2% had asthma. Conclusions : Our survey conducted on budding doctors surprisingly showed that undergraduate medical students smoke so much.