Determination of the Frequency of Tobacco Products and Electronic Cigarette Use of University Students and the Evaluation of Related Factors

In order to take control of the tobacco epidemic, it is important to question the reasons leading young people to use tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and hookah. The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of tobacco, hookah, and e-cigarette usage by university students and to evaluate related factors. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 with university students. Size of the study group was calculated according to the strata weight for each faculty and class by using the stratified sampling method. The study group consisted of 2477 students. Of the study group, 47.8% of students used tobacco products (cigarette and hookah) or e-cigarettes. The frequency of current hookah usage was found to be 15.6%, and the frequency of e-cigarettes usage was noted as 2.1%. When we compared the reasons of the attendants for using tobacco products, factors for hookah such as liking and enjoying it (13.4%) and for e-cigarettes considering it less harmful (21.6%) and finding it helpful to quit smoking (13.7%) were noticed to have higher ratings. The rates of hookah and e-cigarettes usage were significantly high among smokers.