title: Prevalence, patterns and knowledge of effects on health of smoking among medical students in Pakistan.
abstract: A questionnaire survey was conducted among all medical students with at least 2 years of medical education studying at 3 medical colleges in Punjab, Pakistan. Of the 1529 respondents (544 males and 985 females), 21.5% were ever smokers (smoked at least once in their lifetime): 9.1% current smokers (including 5.7% daily smokers), 0.7% ex-smokers and 11.7% occasional smokers. The proportions of ever smokers among males and females were 48.3% and 6.7% respectively, and of current smokers were 23.2% and 1.3%. The proportion of males and females smoking daily was 14.7% and 0.7%. The proportion of nonsmokers who knew about the addictive and harmful nature of cigarette smoking was higher than that among the smokers.
authors.affiliation: Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. hassanminhas@gmail.com
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Minhas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rahman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires