Prevalence, attitude, misconception, and predictors of electronic cigarette among King Khalid University students, Abha, Aseer region, Saudi Arabia

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Abstract
This research aims to explore the prevalence and perspectives on e-cigarette use at King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia. This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted during April and May 2023, recruiting students from the College of Medicine at King Khalid University, from Aseer region, Saudi Arabia. We included 534 participants, of those 19.3% had used electronic-cigarettes (e-cigarettes). The most reported reason for using e-cigarettes were reduce/quit conventional smoking because it is not a healthy habit (23%). A significantly lesser proportion of E. users rather than the users, think that e-cigarettes are a source of secondhand smoking, causing various diseases, burning tobacco as a source of power and harmful to pregnant women. Furthermore, the prevalence of the 2 groups was comparable when they were asked if e-cigarette is a nicotine delivery system and it contains addictive flavor. Female sex is inversely associated with e-cigarette smoking (odds ratio: 0.25 (0.15–0.42), P < .001). However, age, grade point average, and MBBS year were not associated with E. smoking. One fifth of the medical students at King Khaled University are E. users with a large proportion of males. The health care authorities in conjunction with the educational authorities should raise the awareness level towards e-cigarettes use in particular the reasons for usage as well as it is harmful hazards.

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