Journal of community health
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Comparative Study
Does knowledge count? Attitudes toward smoking among medical, nursing, and pharmacy students in Hungary.
Despite the fact that cigarette smoking in East Europe is a major health problem, no effective health policy responses have been developed thus far. Health care professionals represent a valuable resource for tobacco control. Therefore, we wanted to obtain information about the acceptance of smoking among medical, nursing and pharmacy students (n = 270) in Szeged, Hungary. ⋯ The high frequency of smoking among students suggests that they themselves are unable to cope with avoiding the dangers of smoking. Moreover, responses reflect a generally poor appreciation of responsibility that health care professionals have in prevention. There is a need for an increasing emphasis on smoking-related attitude formation among medical and nursing students.