Comparison between tobacco smoking among medical and non-medical students  a cross-sectional study

Yousaf Ajam; Haroon Sohail; Syed Fahmeed Imam; Muhammad Sabih Saleem; Mujtaba Shahbaz; Avais Raja; Khurram Irshad Qureshi; Sajida Naseem

2026, Vol: 51, Issue: 2

51 / 2Current Issue Online First Archive Aims and Scope Abstracting & Indexing Most Accessed Articles Most Downloaded Articles Most Cited Articles

Required files to be uploaded

Author_Certificate-old
Bank Reciept

« Previous Article

Original Research

RMJ. 2017; 42(1): 102-107

Comparison between tobacco smoking among medical and non-medical students a cross-sectional study

Yousaf Ajam, Haroon Sohail, Syed Fahmeed Imam, Muhammad Sabih Saleem, Mujtaba Shahbaz, Avais Raja, Khurram Irshad Qureshi, Sajida Naseem.

Abstract
Objective: The primary objective of this study is to compare smoking trends among medical and non-medical university students. The secondary objective was intended at finding the determinants of shisha and cigarette smoking among university students
Methodology: A cross-sectional questionnaire based survey over a period of 12 months (2013-2014) was carried out consisting of 600 students aged 18-25 years from three medical and four non-medical universities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Results: We distributed a total of 700 questionnaires, out of which 600 students (85.71%) filled the self-developed questionnaire. Only 531 questionnaires (88.5%) were valid i.e. accurately filled. 36.7% were medical students and 63.3% were non-medical students. The prevalence of cigarette and shisha smoking among medical students was 25.6% and 29.2%, respectively and among non-medical students was 39.9% and 38.4%, respectively. There were 64.5% male smokers, compared to 21% female smokers in both medical and non-medical students. 26.1% and 48.9% participants from both groups started cigarette or shisha smoking due to curiosity and for pleasure seeking respectively. 43.2% of medical students said that increased medical knowledge did not help them quit smoking.
Conclusion: The prevalence of cigarette and shisha smoking was higher in non-medical compared to that of the medical students. However, there was a significant decline in the smoking trends compared to the previous data from Pakistan.

Key words: Cigarette Smoking, waterpipe smoking, hookah smoking, medical students.

	ARTICLE TOOLS
	Abstract
	PDF Fulltext
	How to cite this article
	Citation Tools
	Related Records
	Articles by Yousaf Ajam Articles by Haroon Sohail Articles by Syed Fahmeed Imam Articles by Muhammad Sabih Saleem Articles by Mujtaba Shahbaz Articles by Avais Raja Articles by Khurram Irshad Qureshi Articles by Sajida Naseem
	on Google
	on Google Scholar

How to Cite this Article

Pubmed Style

Ajam Y, Sohail H, Imam SF, Saleem MS, Shahbaz M, Raja A, Qureshi KI, Naseem S. Comparison between tobacco smoking among medical and non-medical students a cross-sectional study. RMJ. 2017; 42(1): 102-107.

Web Style

Ajam Y, Sohail H, Imam SF, Saleem MS, Shahbaz M, Raja A, Qureshi KI, Naseem S. Comparison between tobacco smoking among medical and non-medical students a cross-sectional study. https://www.rmj.org.pk/?mno=235550 [Access: June 23, 2026].

AMA (American Medical Association) Style

Ajam Y, Sohail H, Imam SF, Saleem MS, Shahbaz M, Raja A, Qureshi KI, Naseem S. Comparison between tobacco smoking among medical and non-medical students a cross-sectional study. RMJ. 2017; 42(1): 102-107.

Vancouver/ICMJE Style

Harvard Style

Ajam, Y., Sohail, . H., Imam, . S. F., Saleem, . M. S., Shahbaz, . M., Raja, . A., Qureshi, . K. I. & Naseem, . S. (2017) Comparison between tobacco smoking among medical and non-medical students a cross-sectional study. RMJ, 42 (1), 102-107.

Turabian Style

Ajam, Yousaf, Haroon Sohail, Syed Fahmeed Imam, Muhammad Sabih Saleem, Mujtaba Shahbaz, Avais Raja, Khurram Irshad Qureshi, and Sajida Naseem. 2017. Comparison between tobacco smoking among medical and non-medical students a cross-sectional study. Rawal Medical Journal, 42 (1), 102-107.

Chicago Style

Ajam, Yousaf, Haroon Sohail, Syed Fahmeed Imam, Muhammad Sabih Saleem, Mujtaba Shahbaz, Avais Raja, Khurram Irshad Qureshi, and Sajida Naseem. "Comparison between tobacco smoking among medical and non-medical students a cross-sectional study." Rawal Medical Journal 42 (2017), 102-107.

MLA (The Modern Language Association) Style

APA (American Psychological Association) Style

Author Login Reviewer Login Editorial Policies Conflict of Interest Policy Plagiarism Policy Advertising Policy

About Rawal Medical Journal

Contact Information

How to cite this article


About Rawal Medical Journal Publication, subscription and Editorial office PMA House G/220-B Liaquat Road, Rawalpindi. Phone: 051-555-9812, Fax: 051-553-7088 Email: drnkhokhar@ya ... Read more. For best results, please use Internet Explorer or Google Chrome.	Contact Information