Use of smokeless tobacco among male students of Zahedan universities in Iran: a cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND Smokeless tobacco consumption is one of the causes of oral cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of smokeless tobacco consumption among male students of Zahedan universities and associated factors in 2012. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this cross-sectional study, 431 students were selected from the universities of Zahedan using multi-stage random cluster sampling. The data collection tool was a questionnaire including questions about demographic information, history of smokeless tobacco consumption, and awareness of smokeless tobacco hazards. Data were analyzed by SPSS19 using Chi-square test and multinomial logistic regression, with p<0.05 considered significant. RESULTS At the time of conducting this study, 102 students (23.7%) had already consumed smokeless tobacco and 49 students (11.4%) were current users (consuming at least once in 30 days before the study). There was a significant relationship between history of smokeless tobacco consumption, university/college, place of living, mean GPA, and mother's education level (p<0.05). Also there was a significant association between knowledge and prevalence of smokeless tobacco use (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS There is a relatively high prevalence of smokeless tobacco consumption among the male students of universities of Zahedan, which shows the need to emphasize the provision and implementation of prevention programs in universities.