Habitus, knowledge and attidudes from tobacco smoking among Medicine and Economy Univeristy students in Catania

The aim of this paper is to evaluate smoking habits, knowledge and attitudes among Medical and Economical students (average age: 22 years for medical students, 21 years for economics students). 155 students of Catania University (68 Medicine students, 87 Economics students) were asked to complete a self-administered anonymous questionnaire; 31,4% of males and 21,4% (1-14 cigarettes/day) of females were current smokers. Males were mostly medium and heavy smoker, and females light smokers. The knowledge of negative effects of tobacco smoking were similar in both groups. Most of smokers were against the new Italian laws which forbid smoking in public places. The findings confirm the need of develop specific prevention programs for medical students since they will play an important public health role in reducing the prevalence of tobacco consumption.