KARACHI, Sept 11: A study conducted at three of the country’s medical colleges has shown the high incidence of tobacco use among future medics, despite their having adequate knowledge about the health hazards involved.

Published in the August issue of The International Journal of TB and Lung Disease 2007, ‘Smoking habits and beliefs of future physicians of Pakistan’ was conducted between March 2004 and July 2005 by a group of Aga Khan University (AKU) students. A total of 1,029 students from AKU, the Dow Medical University and the Khyber Medical College (Peshawar) participated in the survey.

The study concludes that the overall incidence of smoking lies at 11.2 per cent; 22.4 per cent of the male respondents are smokers against 2.1 per cent of the female.

Smoking was found to be more prevalent among men, hostel residents and first year medical students. The mean age at which respondents started using tobacco was found to be 17, ie before they started medical school, and the average number of cigarettes smoked per day was 7.5. Of the total respondents, 22.4 per cent reported having used tobacco at some point and almost half had tried to quit. Most of them smoked filtered cigarettes.

The study states that research over the years shows that tobacco use among medical students has increased in Pakistan; by contrast, studies from the US and Australia show decreasing rates.

Most students – 80 per cent – agreed that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer and is implicated in coronary artery disease. Having a good personal health emerged as the major reason for not smoking. The majority believed that passive smoking was harmful and were generally supportive of legislative measures to reduce tobacco use, such as restricting smoking in public places and the curbs of the sale of tobacco to children. A lesser but nonetheless significant number thought that there should be a complete ban on tobacco advertisements and that the prices of tobacco products be increased. Interestingly, most smokers proved quite confident about their ability to quit, with about 36 per cent believing that a family member or friend could help them in this regard. A much lower number responded in favour of the influence of a health professional or religious leader.

The study found that though smoking was less common among final year students than first year students, the imminent graduates smoked an average of 11.5 cigarettes a day against the 5.60 among first year students.

Doctors, the study notes, have so far been unable to act as role models for the general public to quit smoking and in fact, a 32 per cent smoking prevalence was reported in a study on house-officers. It suggests courses on tobacco awareness to help prevent medical students from starting smoking.

The study also states that smoking is on the rise in developing countries, including Pakistan. A recent National Health Survey of Pakistan puts the overall prevalence of smoking at 15.2 per cent, 28.6 per cent in adult men and 3.3 per cent amongst women. Disturbingly, a smoking rate of 55 per cent was reported among adult men in a recent study conducted in rural Sindh.

‘Smoking habits and beliefs of future physicians of Pakistan’ was conducted by Haq Nawaz, Sardar Zakria Imam, Ali Bin Sarwar Zubairi, Aqil Hussain, Yasir Jamal Sepah and Mohammed Islam under the supervision of Dr Javaid Ahmed Khan, section head of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, AKU.