Oral Health and Dental Management

Abstract

Smoking Habits and Social Nicotine Dependence among Dental Students in Romania

  Andreea Didilescu, Koji Inagaki, Ruxandra Sfeatcu, Stela Carmen Hanganu, Jorma I Virtanen

Background: To evaluate the smoking habits and social nicotine dependence among dental students, and to find out applicability of the Kano Test in detecting smokers and non-smokers.
Methods: The representative sample comprised 223 first-year and sixth-year undergraduate Romanian dental students from the same university, all of whom completeda self-administered questionnaire. Data were collected using the Kano Test for Social Nicotine Dependence (KTSND), designed to assess psychological nicotine dependence. The Student t-test, one-way ANOVA test, Chi-square test and a logistic regression model served in the statistical analysis.
Results: The smoking rate among the dental students was 35%. The students reporting a higher KTSND score were more likely to be current smokers (OR=1.2, 95% CI: 1.1 to 1.3; p<0.001). Among smokers, the females displayed the highest social nicotine dependence. In the logistic regression model, current tobacco use was associated with male gender (OR=2.5, 95% CI: 1.34-4.69) and KTSND scores (OR=1.18, 95% CI: 1.1-1.27).
Conclusions: Our study showed high smoking rate among the undergraduate dental students. The social nicotine dependence was high in smokers and the KTSND was suitablein detecting smokers and non-smokers in the high prevalence smoking population. More emphasis ought to focus on tobacco prevention and cessation activities in the dental curriculum.