The era of electronic smoking: perceptions and use of E-Cigarettes among university students, Egypt

ABSTRACT

Egypt is among the countries with the highest number of tobacco users in the Arab world. There is a scarcity of available data concerning the awareness and use of E-cigarettes in Egypt, particularly among young people. This study aimed to assess the students` perceptions and practices of E-smoking and highlight factors affecting it. A cross-sectional study among 368 students from four faculties. Data were collected via a predesigned questionnaire including socio-demographics, questions regarding knowledge, attitude, and practices related to E-smoking. Prevalence of E-smoking was 10.60%. Moderate to high knowledge regarding E-cigarettes with male predominance was shown. Participants reported multiple reasons for E- smoking; the most frequent was keeping with fashion (33.70%) followed by the influence of peers (27.70%). The majority had a positive attitude against E-cigarettes and reported that they might lead to different illnesses (78.30%). E-cigarette’s smokers reported side effects; cough (61.50%), headache (53.80%), dizziness (51.30%), and 48% reported dry mouth& throat. Only 4.90% of smokers ever tried to quit smoking E-cigarettes, and 41.0% seriously think about quitting. Concerning risk factors associated with E-cigarettes, the highest risk was being male (OR = 10.35), followed by having friends who use E-cigarettes (OR = 8.72) and family not opposing using E-cigarettes (OR = 4.88). The prevalence of E-smoking was 10.60%. The majority had a limited knowledge about E-cigarettes. Male sex, having a family member or a friend smoking E-cigarettes, and family not opposing smoking were the main predictors for E-smoking among studied participants.

KEYWORDS:

• E-cigarettes
• smoking
• perceptions
• university students
• Egypt

Ethical approval

This study was approved by Kafrelsheikh Faculty of Medicine Internal Review Board. Informed written consent was taken from all study participants.

Availability of data and materials

Available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).