Differences of smoking knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors between medical and non-medical students.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies in the world reported inconsistent results about the relationship of medical professional education with medical students' smoking behaviors, and no similar research had been published in China. PURPOSE: This paper aims to explore whether the differences of smoking-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors existed between medical and non-medical undergraduate students. METHODS: Eight thousand one hundred thirty-eight undergraduate students sampled from a university in Guangzhou were investigated with a self-administered structured questionnaire about their smoking-related knowledge, attitude and behaviors, and other relevant factors. General linear model and multinomial logistic regression were conducted to test the differences in smoking-related knowledge, attitude, and behaviors between medical and non-medical students while controlling for potential confounding variables. RESULTS: There was no difference in smoking-related knowledge scores between medical and non-medical freshmen, but medical sophomores and juniors had higher scores of smoking-related knowledge than their non-medical counterparts. The medical sophomores had higher mean score of attitudes towards smoking than non-medical ones. Before entering university, the difference in the prevalence of experimental and regular smoking between medical and non-medical college students was not significant. After entering university, in contrast, the overall prevalence of regular smoking was significantly higher among male non-medical college students than among male medical students. Stratified by current academic year, this difference was significant only among male sophomores. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students have higher smoking-related knowledge, stronger anti-smoking attitude, and lower prevalence of regular smoking than non-medical college students of similar age, which may be associated with medical professional education.

[A case-control study of environmental and genetic factors and prostate cancer in Guangdong].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the etiologic relationship of prostate cancer and environmental and genetic polymorphism in southern China METHODS: A hospital-based and 1:1 matched case-control study was conducted. A total of 142 matched pairs of subjects were investigated in this study. The blood samples were collected from 85 cases of prostate cancer and 82 controls of other diseases after informing consent. The CYP1A1, CYP17 and AR genes were analyzed by using the method of PCR, PCR-RFLP. The data were analyzed with conditional logistic regression model. RESULTS: An increased risk of prostate cancer development was observed with the early first spermatorrhea (age < 18) (OR = 2.90, 95% CI: 1.76 - 4.80), early first sexual intercourse (age < or = 24) (OR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.14 - 4.96), frequent sexual intercourse before 35 year old (OR = 1.80, 95% CI: 1.19 - 2.70), family history of cancer (OR = 2.70, 95% CI: 1.31 - 5.58), more intake of pork (OR =2.27, 95% CI: 1.38 - 3.70). Factors in lowing the risks were the fruit intake and drinking of green tea by OR value at 0.25 (95% CI: 0.08 - 0.75) and 0.52 (95% CI: 0.28 -0.96) respectively. CYP17 A1/A2 and CYP17 A2/A2 genotypes were related with a high risk of prostate cancer and OR values of 1.78 (95% CI: 0.70 - 4.53) and 2.57 (95% CI: 0.91 - 7.25) respectively. Study also showed that there was an interaction between CYP17 polymorphisms and early first spermatorrhea and family cancer history related to the risk of prostate cancer with OR value at 13.35 (95% CI: 1.58 - 113.00) and 4.01 (95% CI: 1.22 - 13.17) respectively. CONCLUSION: Sexual intercourse, dietary intake and family cancer history should be related to prostate cancer occurrence. CYP17 polymorphism might be associated with a high risk of prostate cancer. It suggests that there are multiple environmental and genetic factors to the prostate cancer.

[Etiologic correlations of prostate cancer in Guangdong, China to family history of cancers, and sexual and marital factors-a case-control study].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Prostate cancer is a common cancer in American and European men. The incidence of prostate cancer is low in China, but increases year by year. The previous etiologic studies on prostate cancer in China were mainly conducted in Shanghai, Wuhan, and Beijing, but rarely in Guangdong. This study was to explore the etiologic correlations of prostate cancer to sexual and marital factors and family history of cancers among Cantonese. METHODS: A hospital-based case-control study was conducted from 2005 through 2006 in 4 affiliated hospitals of Sun Yat-sen University. The cases and controls were matched by age (+/-5 years), sex, race and resident location. All the subjects were interviewed by experienced investigators. The data were analyzed with conditional Logistic regression model. RESULTS: A total of 186 subjects were investigated in this study, including 62 patients with prostate cancer, 62 with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and 62 with other diseases as controls. When BPH was referred to, an increased prostate cancer risk was seen for the men with the age at the first spermatorrhea of less than 15 as compared with those with the age of over 18 [odds ratio (OR) = 6.37, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.63-63.95]. The men with the first sexual activity in early age were at higher risk of prostate cancer than those in the age of over 30 (in the age of 20-24, OR = 2.25, 95% CI = 0.75-6.71; in the age of 25-29, OR = 2.34, 95% CI= 0.89-6.13). A decreased risk of prostate cancer was found among those men who lost sexual activity after 60 years (in the age of 60-69, OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.20-1.27; in the age of over 70, OR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.08-1.24). When other diseases were referred to, the men with 1 first-degree relative suffered from cancer had greater risk to develop prostate cancer than those without family history of cancers (OR = 2.25, 95% CI = 0.69-7.31). Compared with the age of over 30, an earlier age of the first sexual activity increased the risk of prostate cancer (in the age of less than 20, OR = 5.07, 95% CI = 0.50-51.46); A decreased risk of prostate cancer was also found in the men without sexual activities after 60 years (in the age of 60-69, OR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.24-1.26; in the age of over 70, OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.11-1.47). CONCLUSIONS: Earlier age of the first spermatorrhea and the first sexual activity may increase the risk of prostate cancer. Positive family history of cancers in first-degree relatives can promote the incidence of prostate cancer.

[Process evaluation on a health promotion model regarding smoking prevention among Chinese secondary school students].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the process of smoking prevention and control among Chinese adolescent with a model on health promotion in junior high school. METHODS: A cluster-randomized, controlled and schooled-based trial on smoking prevention was conducted among 2343 students at four secondary schools in Huangpu District of Guangzhou. Students 'reports and investigators' daily records were used to evaluate the intervention measures. RESULTS: During the one-year period of intervention (Dec. 2004 through Dec. 2005), eighteen activities had been implemented among students, teachers, parents and cigarette retailers. Ranked by the rate of awareness, the top six activities were shown as follows: "the nicotine toxicity experiment" (90.7%), "agreement of building families free of smoking"(77.7%), "a letter to parents" (77.1%), "no-smoking signs" (76.5%), "Blackboard information about health and smoking" (75.0%), and "signature on the 18th World Day of No Smoking" (70.2%). Among all the activities, "the nicotine toxicity experiment" had the highest rate of participation (88.5%), followed by "a letter to parents" (73.6%), "agreement of building families free of smoking" (69.8%), "health education through experiments"(68.6%), "health education through multimedia" (65.7%) and "signature on the 18th World Day of No Smoking" (65.6%). The top seven activities in which students showed greatest interests were "the nicotine toxicity experiment" (64.5%), "signature on the 18th World Day of No Smoking" (33.0%), "health education through experiments" (31.2%), "health education through multimedia" (29.8%), "class meetings with a thesis of smoking" (26.8%), "health pamphlets" (26.6%), "specific textbooks" (25.9%). The extent of students' general satisfaction to the work of tobacco control in school during the last year was 52.4%. The biggest perceived shortcoming for the intervention plan was the low participation of students. CONCLUSION: Some intervention measures had not been fully carried out among the students and only covered part of them. It is necessary to adjust the previous intervention measures through keeping the nicotine toxicity experiment, health education through multimedia and other measures with extensive participation of students and at the same time, to avoid literal materials, exhibition boards and traditional single-way health education program.

[Possibility and predictors of successful cigarette purchase attempts by 201 primary school students in Guangzhou, China].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the access to tobacco and exam the predictors of successful tobacco purchase attempts among Chinese minors. METHODS: A simulative trial of purchasing cigarettes was participated by 201 sixth grade students to assess the prevalence of illegal cigarette sales to minors in Guangzhou. Methods of Chi-square and unconditional logistic regression were used to identify the significant predictors,with the result of tobacco purchase as the dependent variable and the characteristics of stores, retailers and minors as the independent variables. RESULTS: A total of 165 students succeeded in purchasing cigarettes but 36 failed, and the percentage of successful purchase attempts was 82. 1% . Data from univariate analysis indicated that 9 factors were significantly associated with students' success in purchasing cigarettes. They were age and height of the purchasers, types of stores, seller's gender and age, posting cigarette advertisements,showing warning signs of 'no cigarette selling to minors' ,asking buyer's age,and asking whom you buy the cigarettes for. The results of multivariable analysis showed that only three variables entering the final logistic regression: the age of students, the type of stores, and showing warning signs of 'no cigarette selling to minors'. CONCLUSION: Chinese minors have easy access to purchasing cigarettes, especially in groceries and small markets. Selling cigarettes by sellers to minors should be monitored and managed in the future.