Smoking habits and social nicotine dependence among dental students in Romania.

BACKGROUND To evaluate the smoking habits and social nicotine dependence among dental students, and to find out applicability of the Kano Test in detecting smokers and non-smokers. METHODS The representative sample comprised 223 first-year and sixth-year undergraduate Romanian dental students from the same university, all of whom completed a self-administered questionnaire. Data were collected using the Kano Test for Social Nicotine Dependence (KTSND), designed to assess psychological nicotine dependence. The Student t-test, one-way ANOVA test, Chi-square test and a logistic regression model served in the statistical analysis. RESULTS The smoking rate among the dental students was 35%. The students reporting a higher KTSND score were more likely to be current smokers (OR=1.2, 95% CI: 1.1 to 1.3; p<0.001). Among smokers, the females displayed the highest social nicotine dependence. In the logistic regression model, current tobacco use was associated with male gender (OR=2.5, 95% CI: 1.34-4.69) and KTSND scores (OR=1.18, 95% CI: 1.1-1.27). CONCLUSIONS Our study showed high smoking rate among the undergraduate dental students. The social nicotine dependence was high in smokers and the KTSND was suitable in detecting smokers and non-smokers in the high prevalence smoking population. More emphasis ought to focus on tobacco prevention and cessation activities in the dental curriculum.