Smoking Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior in Female Saudi Medical and Non-Medical Students at King Faisal University

This study to of tobacco smoking, and among female sectional study was conducted in and of King was used, based on A cross- A about 2018-2019. structured university stratified aimed assess students, awareness while comparing prevalence, related medical non-medical students. A Youth and SPSS was used to All students different random sampling departments technique Global Tobacco Survey collect smoking habits associated a form 21 was used. Two hundred female students participated, from medical factors. signed Faisal detailed University, information Al-Ahsa, during tobacco consent before receiving the questionnaire. version (53 %) and non-medical (47 %) colleges with an average age of 21.1 +1.8 years; 76.5 % had single marital status. Tobacco smoking had an overall prevalence of 13 %, cigarettes 5.5 %, shisha (water- pipe) 7 %, e-cigarettes 4 %, and 3 % were ex-smokers. However, 79 (39.5 %) students refused to answer the smoking question. Medical students were more aware of benefits of smoking cessation (OR 2.03, P 0.03) and treatment modalities (OR 6.19, 0.01), and had lower smoking rates (OR 0.25, P 0.003) compared to non-medical students. Tobacco smoking was highly prevalent among female university students despite their good level of awareness. Qualitative studies are recommended to identify the root causes and develop effective treatment methods.