Current status of cigarette use and exposure to second-hand smoke and associated factors among college students in Zhejiang / 中华健康管理学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To describe the prevalence of tobacco use among college students in Zhejiang Province and analyze the influencing factors of second-hand smoke exposure on campus.Methods:In 2021, college students were selected from 9 colleges through stratified multi-stage cluster sampling from Zhejiang Province and surveyed using questionnaire. A total of 6 530 questionnaires were distributed and 6 035 were returned, with 6 030 valid questionnaires (96.48%). A descriptive analysis of the demography characteristics, cigarettes and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) use, and second-hand smoke exposure of the subjects was carried out, and chi-square test was used for statistical analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyze influencing factors of second-hand smoke exposure on campus.Results:The current smoking rate and current use rate of e-cigarettes among college students were 3.70% and 1.56%, respectively, and the dual use rate of cigarettes and e-cigarettes was 1.16%. The exposure rate of second-hand smoke among college students on campus was 25.06%, while the exposure rate of second-hand smoke in off campus places was 32.35%. The awareness rates of smoking related diseases among college students were as follows lung cancer (92.02%), heart disease (73.15%), stroke (72.87%), and impotence (64.08%). The awareness rate of second-hand smoke related diseases were as follows lung cancer in adults (91.11%), heart disease in adults (78.91%), and lung disease in children (89.35%). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that seven factors (including gender, school type, major, grade, smoking ban regulations, smoking scenes, and knowledge about the health hazards of second-hand smoke) had a statistically significant impact on college students′ exposure to second-hand smoke at school [ OR=2.63, 0.67, 0.69, (0.39, 0.60, 0.68), 0.51, 1.74, 0.72] (all P<0.01). Conclusions:The use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes among college students in Zhejiang Province is not optimistic, especially the use rate of e-cigarettes is higher than adult. The status of second-hand smoke exposure among college students remains serious, with male students, non-medical students, students of special programs, and senior college students having more severe second-hand smoke exposure on campus, and students with high awareness of second-hand smoke exposure, less exposure to smoking scenes from media, from college with comprehensive smoke-free regulations are less exposed to second-hand smoke on campus.