Knowledge, beliefs, attitude, and practices of E-cigarette use among dental students: A multinational survey.

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Alhajj M. N., Al-Maweri S. A., Folayan M. O., Halboub E., Khader Y., Omar R., ...Daha Fazla

PloS one, cilt.17, sa.10, 2022 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 17 Sayı: 10
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276191
  • Dergi Adı: PloS one
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Animal Behavior Abstracts, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), BIOSIS, Biotechnology Research Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Core, EMBASE, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Linguistic Bibliography, MEDLINE, Pollution Abstracts, Psycinfo, zbMATH, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

ABSTRACT

Background: Since its invention in 2003, E-cigarette has widely spread all over the globe. Recently, some diseases and death cases have been reported and linked to the E-cigarette use. Limited data are known about the knowledge and practice about E-cigarette among dental students. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge, beliefs, attitude, and practice of E-cigarette among dental students from different countries.

Materials and Methods: This was a multi-national cross-sectional questionnaire-based study conducted among 20 dental schools from 11 different countries. Undergraduate dental students from all levels were invited, and closed-ended questionnaires were distributed for data collection. The questionnaire consisted of 5 sections related to the study objectives. The collected data were analyzed using Chi-squared test for categorical variables and bivariate analysis for continuous variables. Multiple regression analysis was performed to explore the significant determinants. A p-value < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: A total of 5697 dental students from 11 different countries participated in the study. The majority of the students were females (60.3%, n=3433), less than 20-years-old (67.6%, n=3853), and unmarried (94.1%, n=5361) and 90.8% (n=5163) of the students reported that they had heard about E-cigarette. Majority of students (80.4%) never smoked, 19.6% were current smokers; 10.5 % smoke tobacco only, 4.5% smoke E-cigarette only, and 4.7% were dual users. Social media was the most frequently reported source of information about E-cigarette (33.2%). Majority of smokers (all types of smoking) had been indulging the habit for more than 2 years and reported smoking < 20 times/day. Concerning E-cigarette users, the majority reported smoking for < 1 year, and used it < 20 times/day. The most cited reason for initiating E-cigarette was the desire to enjoy flavors of E-liquids (27%) followed by protection of the family from passive smoking (23%). Correct answers regarding knowledge questions ranged from 22.8% and 78.4%. Multivariable analyses revealed: a significant association of the knowledge scores with country, academic level and smoking status; a significant association between beliefs scores and country and academic level; and a significant association between attitude scores and country and history of previous E-cigarette exposure.