PREVALENCE, KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF TOBACCO USE AMONG STUDENTS OF PROFESSIONAL COLLEGES

Introduction: Tobacco use imposes a large and growing global public health burden. While its use is decreasing in many developed countries, it is increasing in developing countries like India. Hence, professionals need to play a key role to educate, motivate and advise tobacco users to quit. Aim: To assess the prevalence, knowledge and attitude of tobacco use among students of professional colleges and also the potential barriers faced by them in tobacco cessation. Subjects and Methods: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted amongst 500 students from dental, medical, physiotherapy and engineering college of TPCT's Terna Institute, Navi Mumbai. The questionnaire assessed if the students resorted to the deleterious habit of tobacco use, and the underlying reasons of it, whether they impart tobacco cessation advice to tobacco users, whether they are trained for basic intervention, whether they would be eager to undergo training and also the potential barriers encountered. Results: It was observed that the majority of the professionals do not use tobacco and many of them believed that they can play a major role in motivating tobacco users to quit. Potential barriers reported were: Little chance of success, lack of training, lack of time, lack of remuneration, and the possibility of losing patients in the medical and dental faculty.