title: Smoking habits and social nicotine dependence among dental students in Romania.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To evaluate the smoking habits and social nicotine dependence among dental students, and to find out applicability of the Kano Test in detecting smokers and non-smokers.
  
  
  METHODS
  The representative sample comprised 223 first-year and sixth-year undergraduate Romanian dental students from the same university, all of whom completed a self-administered questionnaire. Data were collected using the Kano Test for Social Nicotine Dependence (KTSND), designed to assess psychological nicotine dependence. The Student t-test, one-way ANOVA test, Chi-square test and a logistic regression model served in the statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The smoking rate among the dental students was 35%. The students reporting a higher KTSND score were more likely to be current smokers (OR=1.2, 95% CI: 1.1 to 1.3; p<0.001). Among smokers, the females displayed the highest social nicotine dependence. In the logistic regression model, current tobacco use was associated with male gender (OR=2.5, 95% CI: 1.34-4.69) and KTSND scores (OR=1.18, 95% CI: 1.1-1.27).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed high smoking rate among the undergraduate dental students. The social nicotine dependence was high in smokers and the KTSND was suitable in detecting smokers and non-smokers in the high prevalence smoking population. More emphasis ought to focus on tobacco prevention and cessation activities in the dental curriculum.
authors.forename: Andreea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Didilescu
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inagaki
authors.forename: Ruxandra
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sfeatcu
authors.forename: Stela Carmen
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hanganu
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, University of Oulu, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland, Tel : +358 29448 5584; e-mail: jorma.virtanen@oulu.fi.
authors.forename: Jorma I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Virtanen