title: Cigarette smoking and oral health among healthcare students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The knowledge, attitudes and practices of cigarette smoking and health risks among health workers has been found to be predictive of their efficiency as agents for tobacco cessation campaigns.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices of cigarette smoking and oral health risks among healthcare professional students.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross sectional multi-level study.
  
  
  METHODS
  College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and eighty one students.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty four (12.1%) of the students were current smokers, 174 (61.95%) had never smoked, while 73 (26%) were former smokers. Seventy nine point four per cent of the current smokers were males and 20.6% were females. Pharmacy students had the highest smoking prevalence at 11 (32.4%), while dental and nursing students had the lowest percentages of current smokers. Differences observed in smoking status of students in the constituent schools of the College of Health Sciences were statistically significant (p = 0.008). Apart from knowledge levels on the association between tobacco consumption and lung cancer (p = 0.142), there were statistically significant differences in the awareness of the severe oral and systemic effects of smoking amongst the four student groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a need for harmonisation of teaching of oral and systemic effects of smoking so as to impact on the smoking habits and effectiveness of healthcare professional students as agents of smoking cessation programmes.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Komu
authors.forename: E A O
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Dimba
authors.forename: F G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Macigo
authors.forename: A E O
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ogwell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012907:Smoking; D013335:Students, Dental; D013336:Students, Health Occupations; D013337:Students, Medical; D013338:Students, Nursing; D013339:Students, Pharmacy