Lung health screening survey and prevalence of smoking among college going students

Introduction: College going students generally don’t pay attention and neglect their routinely encountered health problems related to lungs. They don’t even seek medical attention for the same. They start using tobacco either in the form of smoking or chewing at this age because they believe that smoking will boost their image and social acceptability from the peers.
Aim: To find out common signs and symptoms related to lung health and smoking prevalence among college going students.
Methods: Cross-sectional, Descriptive study, conducted among total 345 college going students (M – 210, F - 135) by self- administered questionnaire. The survey included questions regarding presence/absence of common signs and symptoms related to lung health and questions related to smoking habit.
Results: Among 210 male students, 10.95% current smokers, 5.71% ex-smokers and 6.19% Daily Cigarette Smokers. Among 135 female students, 2.96% current smokers, 2.22% ex-smokers and 1.48% Daily Cigarette Smokers. Among 23 male Current Smokers, 56.52% Cigarette user, 30.43% Bidi users and 13.05% Hookah users. 20% male and 20.74% female were always feeling tiredness.16.19% male and 17.03% female had more breathlessness compared to same aged students. In male students, Presence of frequent cough (8.09%) and frequent sputum (9.52%), experience of chest pain (16.66%) and sudden weight loss (9.52%).
Conclusion: We must increase awareness and education regarding common lung health issues among college students in our society. Smoking prevention programmes and its education should be started at school level.