Smoking prevalence and its effect on dental health attitudes and behavior among dental students.
OBJECTIVE
To determine smoking prevalence and its effect on dental health attitudes and behavior among dental students in Jordan.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study of 314 dental students was conducted at Jordan University of Science and Technology. Subjects were surveyed using a modified version of the Hiroshima University Dental Behavior Inventory (HU-DBI) questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to study differences between male smokers and nonsmokers only.


RESULTS
The response rate was 83.7%, with 48% males and 52% females. The prevalence of smoking was 17.2%. Smoking was more prevalent among male students (31%) than female (4.3%). For male students, the multivariate logistic regression analysis showed 6 items that were different between smokers and nonsmokers. Nonsmokers tended to brush their teeth more often than smokers (OR 8.67, 95% CI 1.66-45.25); claimed that they had never been professionally taught how to brush their teeth (OR 11.15, 95% CI 1.89-65.67); believed that they spend too much time brushing their teeth (OR 12.24, 95% CI 2.0-75.05); were more concerned about having bad breath (OR 41.86, 95% CI 3.44-58.75) and were more concerned about the color of their gums (OR 8.04, 95% CI 1.55-41.84).


CONCLUSIONS
Smoking prevalence among male dental students in Jordan was high, 7 times greater than for females. Male smokers and nonsmokers had different attitudes and oral health behaviors as indicated by the study survey.
Alomari
Qasem
Q
Department of Restorative Sciences, Kuwait University. qalomari@hsc.edu.kw
Barrieshi-Nusair
Kefah
K
Said
Khalid
K
D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007597:Jordan; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D013335:Students, Dental / Q000523:psychology*