TOBACCO USE IN HEALTH-SCIENCE STUDENTS

The characteristics of tobacco use by students of the Division of Heal th Sciences of the University of Barcelona have been studied. During t he 1988-1989 school year, 382 students were individually interviewed a bout their use of tobacco by means of a questionnaire routinely used b y the Department of Health and Social Security of the Generalitat of C atalonia (Spain), with pertinent modifications for this specific group . These interviews were performed by appropriately trained personnel. Information was also gathered on the influence of university-level stu dies on smoking habits, the effect of advertising and the efficacy of antitobacco programs and campaigns carried out by the government. The study sample was drawn from lists supplied by the registrars' offices, by means of a random sampling by school (Medicine, Pharmacy, Psycholo gy, Odontology and Nursing). The prevalence of tobacco use was 40.8% ( 29.8% daily smokers and 11% occasional smokers). These results arc sim ilar to those described in the literature, although these values are s omewhat higher than those in more developed countries with a longer tr adition of resistance to the use of tobacco. It is important to note t hat studying health sciences docs not appear to be a major influence o n the student's habits, but that the social and cultural environment i s the factor which weighs the most in this respect. In conclusion, to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use in this important group, educatio nal programs must be begun at the pre-university level (secundary scho ol) and changes should be made in the curricula of the health professi onal so that areas related to tobacco use are more motivational for st udents.