Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Awareness of Electronic-Cigarette Use among Medical Students at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To determine the prevalence, pattern of smoking, and associated factors as well as attitudes toward E-cigarettes among medical students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 340 medical students. An online questionnaire was used in data collection. It consists of socio-demographic characteristics, smoking history, awareness of E-cigarettes, the prevalence of their use, beliefs regarding E-cigarettes, and reasons for E-cigarette use Results: Males represented 58.8%, with a mean age of 22.4±1.5 years. The prevalence of current smoking and ex-smoking among participants was 13.5% and 9.1%, respectively. Most participants have heard of E-cigarettes (94.4%); female students have heard about E-cigarettes more than males (99.3% vs. 91%, respectively, p<0.001); 36.8% of participants have tried using E-cigarettes at least once during their lifetime, 15.9% have used them during the last month and 11.8% intended to use them in the next year. Junior students were likelier to try E-cigarettes during their lifetime (44.5% vs. 32.1%, respectively, p=0.020). The commonest reasons for trying E-cigarettes were reducing the number of traditional cigarettes (93.6%), being less dangerous than traditional cigarettes (87.2%), and as an attempt to quit smoking (84.8%). Conclusions: E-cigarettes are tried by a considerable proportion of medical students, mainly to reduce the number of traditional cigarettes, assuming that they are less dangerous than traditional cigarettes, and as an attempt to quit smoking. Key Words: Cigarette smoking, E-smoking, medical students, knowledge, attitude, risk factors.