Knowledge and Habits of Brazilian Dental Students about Electronic Cigarettes

Aims: To analyze the knowledge level and usage habits of Dental students related to electronic cigarette (EC).

Study Design: Cross-sectional observational study.

Place and Duration of Study: This study was developed in the Dentistry Course at Campus VIII of State University of Paraiba located in Araruna, Brazil, between March and December of 2022.

Methodology: This study included students over 18 years old, who answered a structured questionnaire containing 38 questions about their habits and knowledge about EC. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics (Pearson's Chi-Square and Fisher's Exact tests), considering statistical significance at p<0.05. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee.

Results: 192 Dental students participated of this research, most of them female, white, with family income above three minimum wages, coming from other cities. Most students are not smokers of any type of cigarette, nor passive smoker, they have already tried EC, but do not have it, knowing a student who has it. In addition, most students reported having low (college seniors- 5th to 10th periods) and intermediate/high (freshmen- 1st to 4th periods) knowledge about the electronic device. Students with less knowledge were statistically less prepared (p<0.001) to advise their patients about the EC, and less likely to have already tried it (p<0.001) and wanting to try it (p<0.001). Students were aware that EC is harmful to health, has nicotine and can cause systemic diseases, including oral cancer. However, they were unaware that the device is prohibited from sale and import in Brazil.

Conclusion: Although students affirmed that EC is as harmful as conventional cigarette and it can cause diseases such as cancer, their knowledge about this device is still superficial and scarce. Therefore, more advertising campaigns are needed to prevent the device use among young people and about the damage caused to the health of its users.