Prevalence of and factors associated with smoking among students in Sousse, Tunisia

Within the framework of the fight against tobacco among young people, we conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in 2013 to estimate the prevalence of smoking and to identify associated factors among students in Sousse. A questionnaire was administered to a representative sample of 556 students in 5 academic institutions in Sousse randomly drawn. The age of the participants was between 17 and 35 years. The prevalence le of tobacco consumption in the past 12 months was 22.1% and consumption during the past 3 months was 65.3%. The average age of starting smoking was 17 years. Smoking prevalence was significantly higher for males [P <0.001] and those aged over 25 years [P-0.002]. Students from 2 of the institutions were using more tobacco than their colleagues in the other institutions [P= 0.027]. The high prevalence of smoking found among the students means that prevention measures are essential; this requires increasing self-esteem and evaluating intervention programmes implemented before smoking the first cigarette

Respiratory morbidity in family practice in the region of Sousse, Tunisia

We determined the profile of respiratory morbidity in family practice in the region of Sousse. We conducted a cross-sectional study in 86 primary health care centres in Souse over 1 year [2002-03]. Medical records for 3 weeks per season were randomly selected. The International Classification of Primary Care [ICPC] was used to code recorded data. Respiratory diseases ranked first both for reason for consultation [8397/24 882, 33.7%] and for diagnosis made [7788/18 097, 43.0%]. Of the 7715 respiratory complaints, cough was the most common complaint [54.8%]. Of respiratory diagnoses, 37.1% were acute tonsillitis, 26.5% acute bronchitis and 21.6% were acute respiratory tract infection. Children under 5 years were most affected by acute upper respiratory tract infections [44.5%]. Acute bronchitis was the primary diagnosis for patients aged over 45 years

[Attitudes of Tunisian medical students to medical practice: gender differences]

To better understand the impact of gender change in medical practice on health care in Tunisia, we conducted a cross-sectional study on the attitudes of 512 medical students [40% female] to medicine and medical practice in the Faculty of Medicine, Sousse. Female students attached more value than males to the intrinsic aspects of a physician's job, such as the desire to help others and to work with people. Regarding the dimensions of comprehensive care [psychosociological aspects of care, health education, patient-centred approach and medical prevention], there were wide differences between men and women. At the end of their training cycles, both male and female students ascribed less importance to these aspects than in the beginning

[Prevalence of contraceptive use in a periurban area of Sousse, Tunisia]

A contraceptive prevalence survey was conducted among 1277 women of reproductive age, to explore knowledge of and attitudes to contraceptive use and study factors influencing contraceptive use. We found that family planning methods were generally well known. The prevalence of modern contraceptive use was 53.6%, IUDs being the most commonly used followed by sterilization and pills. The public sector was the main source for obtaining contraceptives although pills and condoms tended to be obtained from the private sector. There was a significant correlation between contraceptive use and urban residence