title: Smoking among dental students in Monastir, Tunisia.
abstract: Dental students can help in the fight against smoking. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of smoking and assess behaviours, knowledge and attitudes among dental students in Monastir, Tunisia. A survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted during November 2008. The sample consisted of 1123 dentistry students aged 18 to 28 years. About 14% of the students were smokers (38.4% of boys and 3.4% girls, P < 0.0001) with an average of 16 cigarettes smoked daily. The age at smoking first cigarette ranged from 8 to 21 years (mean 16, SD 2.3 years). Among the smoker students, 66.5% of their fathers and 3% of their mothers were also smokers. Over 80% of these students were aware that smoking is harmful to health. These results reveal a need to include classes on smoking cessation in the dental curriculum.
authors.affiliation: Faculté de Médecine dentaire, Monastir (Tunisie).
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maatouk
authors.affiliation: Médecin dentiste, secteur privé, Gabès (Tunisie).
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barkallah
authors.affiliation: Unité régionale de médecine scolaire et universitaire, Monastir (Tunisie).
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: May