The Prevalence of University Students’ Use of Tobacco Products, Their Opinions on Their Effects on Health, and the Factors Affecting Use

Objective: It was aimed to examine the prevalence of use of tobacco products, the reasons for the first use, opinions on tobacco products' effects on health, and factors affecting the waterpipe use of university students enrolled in technical, social, and health sciences in this study.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with a 43 -item questionnaire among fourth-year students from three educational fields of a university with 72.3% participation rate was in Ankara, Turkey in March 2019.Results: 21.1% of the students were current waterpipe users and 32.6% were current cigarette smokers. For both cigarette and waterpipe, "curiosity" was the most common reason first reported use, followed by socializing and related reasons. For both tobacco products, there was consensus on whether they were harmful to health and on the positive effects of quitting. Regarding the addictive effect, significantly more of the participants gave lower scores for waterpipe than for cigarettes (46.4% versus 83.5%). The risk factors for being current waterpipe use were the students' cigarette smoking and waterpipe use in the family or close friends.Conclusion: Waterpipe use was relatively common among university students and socialization was important as a risk factor for being a current user. The addictive effect of waterpipe can be emphasized more in awareness campaigns. The fight against tobacco should be conducted by peer work and targeting all tobacco products and regardless of students' educational fields.