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 wasto determine the prevalence of smokeless tobacco consumption among male students of Zahedan universitiesand associated factors in 2012. Materials and
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 431 students were selectedfrom the universities of Zahedan using multi-stage random cluster sampling. The data collection tool was aquestionnaire including questions about demographic information, history of smokeless tobacco consumption, andawareness of smokeless tobacco hazards. Data were analyzed by SPSS19 using Chi-square test and multinomiallogistic 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 atleast once in 30 days before the study). There was a significant relationship between history of smokeless tobaccoconsumption, university/college, place of living, mean GPA, and mother’s education level (p<0.05). Also there wasa 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 universitiesof Zahedan, which shows the need to emphasize the provision and implementation of prevention programs inuniversities.