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Biomedical subjects
Aurelijus Veryga
Publications and source records attributed to Aurelijus Veryga.
[Smoking habits, attitudes and smoking cessation among sixth-year medical students of Kaunas University of Medicine].
UNLABELLED: The aim of the study was to assess trends of smoking and the relation between smoking behavior of undergraduate medical students and their attitudes towards smoking and treatment of tobacco dependence. METHODS: Data were collected from sixth-year medical students of Kaunas University of Medicine during ten consecutive years. A total of 1518 students completed the anonymous questionnaire; response rate was 83.5%. RESULTS: The daily smoking rate was 19.4% in males and 4.2% in females; 15.9% and 10.4% respectively were irregular smokers, never smoked 41.6% of males and 64% of females. 70% of smokers and 83% of nonsmokers agreed that tobacco smoking is one of the greatest health hazards of modern times; 97.1% of all students considered passive smoking as harmful. More nonsmokers (70%) than smokers (5l%) were aware of addictive nature of tobacco, but there was a little difference in their opinion about support to smokers for quitting: 83.2% of smokers and 87.1% of nonsmokers stated that medical doctors should help smokers to give up smoking and 68% of them thought that doctors had not enough knowledge how to help. Less smokers (55%) than nonsmokers (87%) believed that smoking should be banned in hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of smoking was significantly lower among medical students than in general population. There were no significant changes in smoking prevalence among male medical students during the period of 1995-2004. At the same time smoking prevalence among female medical students increased more than twice. Attitudes of smokers and nonsmokers were significantly different on most items of tobacco, but knowledge of tobacco problem in the undergraduate students was not sufficient. Teaching about tobacco and related issues remains essential in the undergraduate medical course.
Attitude to Health↗
[Smoking prevalence among university hospital staff].
Addiction to smoking was assessed in staff of Kaunas University of Medicine Hospital based on the results of an anonymous questionnaire. A total of 3090 valid questionnaires were collected (56.5% of whole sample). Prevalence of smokers was 13.3% (37.6% men and 9.7% women), former smokers - 6.0% (16.0% men and 3.7% women) and non-smokers - 80.7% (46.4% men and 86.6% women). The 30-39 year old age men and 18-39 year old women groups present the highest prevalence of smoking (48.8% and 14.9%, accordingly). The highest prevalence of tobacco smoke was found among auxiliary personnel men and women (44.9% and 11.3%, accordingly) and the lowest - among doctors (36.4% and 7.6%, accordingly). The received data enable to evaluate smoking prevalence among University Hospital staff and allow smoking control policy measures.
Adolescent↗