the factors of tendency to cigarette smoking in medical students in isfahan university of medical sciences

aim and background: every year, smoking and its related diseases account for the death of at least four million people around the world. this risky behavior is growing among young educated people. the present study examined factors affecting medical students’ tendency of to smoke. methods and materials: this cross-sectional study included 305 medical students in isfahan university of medical sciences (isfahan, iran) who were selected by cluster random sampling. data was collected by a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of two sections. the first part asked for demographic data and the second evaluated the viewpoints of the students about factors affecting their tendency to smoke. the collected data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics in spss 19 . findings: according to the students, the most important factors in increasing a person’s tendency toward smoking were personal interests (50.0%), smoker friends and spending leisure time (28.6%). most students (92.9%) declared that the university did not provide sufficient leisure time facilities. interestingly, 71.0% of the smoking students had started to smoke after entering the university. the students viewed the most common factors leading to smoking as psychiatric problems, academic problems, and lack of leisure time facilities. they estimated the prevalence of smoking among students as 10% to 80%. conclusions: the students considered psychiatric problems, academic problems, and lack of leisure time facilities as major factors leading to smoking of medical. therefore, annual screening of students for psychiatric disorders is suggested.