title: Social nicotine dependence in Australian dental undergraduate students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate dental undergraduate students' tobacco usage and social nicotine dependence in Australia. A special interest was to identify the role of factors such as age, gender, year of dental education and cohabitants' smoking status for social nicotine dependence.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 252, first-to-fifth year undergraduate students in an Australian dental school was used. Each completed a self-administered questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The smoking rate was 4.8%. Current smokers displayed higher social nicotine dependence than those that had never smoked (t=3.1, df=244, P=0.002). Dental undergraduate students that showed higher social nicotine dependence (P=0.001, OR=1.3, 95% CI: 1.1-1.6), or that had smoking cohabitants (P=0.016, OR=4.8, 95% CI: 1.3-17.0), were more likely to smoke. Students' social nicotine dependence increased with year of dental study (P=0.043, β=0.4, t=2.0). Social nicotine dependence enhanced tobacco usage among Year-1-to-4 students (P=0.005, OR=1.4, 95% CI: 1.1-1.7) but not Year-5 undergraduates (P=0.432).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Social nicotine dependence has become a developing issue in dental education. Tobacco control should be highlighted in the dental curriculum. Future investigations into the effects of dental education on social nocotine dependence and tobacco usage are indicated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. bhuang@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Boyen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inagaki
authors.forename: Chiharu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yoshii
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.forename: Paul V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.forename: Toshihide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.forename: Katsu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bessho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior; D013335:Students, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult