Smoking among Shanghai medical students and the need for comprehensive intervention strategies

By cluster sampling, 1392 medical students of Shanghai Medical University were investigated with regard to smoking status and their knowledge and attitudes towards smoking and anti-smoking campaigns. The results showed that the smoking rate of medical students was 12.07%-21.42% for male students and 1.81% for female students. Both daily and occasional smoking rate increased as the curriculum year progressed. Of smoking students, 36.69% had made at least one serious attempt to quit smoking; 11.18% of smoking students intended to be non-smokers by the end of 5 years; and 87.07% of non-smokers and 68.35% of smokers agreed that smoking was harmful to one's health. There were widespread deficiencies in knowledge of smoking as an important causal factor in many diseases and in medical students' knowledge as to the appropriate role of doctors in anti-smoking campaigns. There existed some differences between smokers and non-smokers with respect to knowledge and attitudes towards smoking, doctors' professional responsibilities and smoking-controlling regulations. This study indicates that the current system of medical education in China has little or no effect on the attitudes and behaviours of medical students regarding smoking. It is therefore highly necessary and possible to adopt comprehensive smoking-control interventions and health education among this group.