The effect of socioeconomic status and environmental factors on health technician students' use of tobacco products

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate health technician students' behaviors regarding the use of tobacco and tobacco products and levels of tobacco dependence and to reveal the effects of socioeconomic and environmental factors on the use of these products. Material and Methods: The study consisted of 1118 first- and second-year students from Dokuz Eylul University Vocational School of Health Services in the 2021-2022 academic year. These students were applied a questionnaire that was developed to determine their sociodemographic, individual, family characteristics, habits, and opinions on tobacco use and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). Results: It was determined that 34.5% of the students used tobacco products, 14.0% smoked water pipe (WTS), 3.0% used electronic cigarettes (EC), and that the average age of starting smoking was 15.6 +/- 2.4 years. Of the students, 18.1% stated that they wanted to quit smoking and 1.9% had received professional help to quit smoking. It was found that 64.5% did not want tobacco product advertisements to be banned and that 61.9% did not want a smoking ban in public/indoor areas. According to 64.0% of the students, university education had no effect on tobacco use. The mean score of smokers on the FTND was 3.43 +/- 2.20, and 3.9% of them had a high level of dependence. It was determined that a low level of tobacco addiction was more prevalent in students whose mothers had low education and who lived with their parents (p<0.05). However, a high level of tobacco addiction was found to be more prevalent in those who started smoking at the age of <= 16 (p<0.01). Conclusion: Our research indicated the factors that affected the health technician students' behaviors of tobacco and tobacco product use, level of tobacco dependence, and desire to quit smoking. It was also found that the age of starting smoking, maternal education level, and family unity played a role in students' smoking behavior.