Cigarette Smoking Prevalence and Nicotine Risk Assessment Amongst Student Smokers in Yaoundé Cameroon

Cigarette smoking incidence among youths in Cameroon is on the rise and cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for many preventable disorders. Cigarette smoke is a complex mixture of over 5000 toxic substances with diversified toxicities including carcinogenicity and addiction. Nicotine, the harmful component of cigarettes, plays a central role in addiction and contributes to the onset or worsening of cardiovascular disorders. This paper provides preliminary data on cigarette smoking incidence and cigarettes associated nicotine exposure amongst student smokers in higher institutes of learning in Yaoundé. A survey on cigarette smoking attitudes was conducted among students of higher institutions of learning in Yaoundé using structured questionnaires. Based on the data from the survey, nicotine exposure was calculated, and the potential associated risk was characterized. Seventeen percent of studied students N=185 were cigarette smokers smoking on average 5.96 range 1 15 majority smoking 1 10 sticks of cigarettes per day each, with an average nicotine concentration of 4.77 mg day, resulting in an estimated nicotine exposure incidence of 0.068 range 0.009 0.043 mg Kg body weight day. The average maximum nicotine exposure rate is 85 53.8 times higher than the reference dose 0.0008 mg Kg body weight day . This places these students at an unacceptable risk. An enlarged survey may be required as well as educational intervention approaches such as awareness and sensitization campaigns against cigarette smoking among youths. Wilfred A. Abia | Golwa Dinza "Cigarette Smoking Prevalence and Nicotine Risk Assessment Amongst Student Smokers in Yaoundé Cameroon" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-8 | Issue-3 , June 2024, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd46334.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/biological-science/biochemistry/46334/cigarette-smoking-prevalence-and-nicotine-risk-assessment-amongst-student-smokers-in-yaoundé-cameroon/wilfred-a-abia