Factors that contribute to cigarette smoking and its health effects amongst students at a selected University in South Africa

Abstract

Background: Globally, cigarette smoking is causing preventable deaths in developing countries especially among the youth.
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to assess factors that contribute to cigarette smoking and its health effects amongst students at a selected university in South Africa.
Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive quantitative survey design was conducted at a rural-based university in South Africa. Convenience sampling was used to select 407 students. A self-administered questionnaire was utilised to gather data and was analyzed using SPSS version 25. Chi-square tests (χ2) were employed to determine the association between smoking and demographic variables.
Results: The prevalence of smoking among students was (175/43.3%). Most participants were females and the mean age of the sample population was 24. The study found perceived personal, social-cultural, and environmental factors that contributed to cigarette smoking among students. The majority of the students perceived factors that drive students to smoke cigarettes as being stress (322/80,2%), having friends that smoke  (278/78.4%), having family members (223/74.8%), having a roommate (297/72.7%), lack of rules/signage that prohibits smoking in campus  (281/69%), easy availability of cigarettes in campus (252/62%), absence of parental influence (224/55%), and regular adverts of cigarette (267/65%). Students were aware that smoking causes lung diseases 332 (81.5%), lung cancer 354 (87.8%), heart diseases 308 (75.6%), hypertension (260/64.6%), effects on unborn babies (327/80.4%), delays in wound healing, (299 /74%) and chances that it triggers asthma (317 /78.1%).
Conclusion: The study concludes that students smoke cigarettes due to a variety of factors, therefore, there is a need to target these factors when developing on-campus anti-smoking strategies.

Keywords: Smoking behaviours, Cigarette smoking, Students’ smoking