Factors associated with tobacco use among dental students at a University in Curitiba

Abstract Introduction Health care professionals, including dentists, are role models and have great influence on the population they serve. Objective This purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to examine the prevalence of tobacco use among dental students, and (2) to examine factors associated with use as well as which products were being used by this population. Material and method This was a cross-sectional descriptive study in which the data was collected through an online questionnaire in 2012. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample, chi-square to examine association among variables of interest, and multivariate logistic regression to examine factors associated with tobacco use. Result The prevalence of tobacco use was 24.92%. Waterpipe was the most frequent tobacco product used by participants who endorsed using tobacco products (66.23%) followed by industrialized cigarettes (54.55%). Factors associated with tobacco use included: living alone (p=0.012; OR=2.13; CI=1.17-3.85), socializing with other smokers (p=0.000; OR=3.22; CI=1.75-5.91), and being close to these smokers when they were smoking (p=0.000; OR=6.96; IC=2.37-20.45). Conclusion This study provides relevant information to the development of awareness and capacity building programs tailored to health care professional in higher education with regard to tobacco use.