Cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and serum lipid profile among medical students in Greece

• Published in: European journal of public health 2003-09, Vol.13 (3), p.278-282
• Main Authors: Mammas, Ioannis N., Bertsias, George K., Linardakis, Manolis, Tzanakis, Nikolaos E., Labadarios, Demetre N., Kafatos, Anthony G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Alcohol; Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; Analysis of covariance; Analysis of Variance; Cardiovascular disease; Chi-Square Distribution; Cholesterol; Cigarettes; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Females; Greece - epidemiology; Health care; Health promotion; High density lipoprotein; Humans; Lipids; Lipids - blood; lipoproteins; Low density lipoprotein; Male; Males; Medical students; Nutrition; Prevalence; Preventive medicine; Public health; Questionnaires; Smoking; Smoking - epidemiology; Students, Medical; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tobacco; Triglycerides
• ISSN: 1101-1262; 1464-360X
• DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/13.3.278

Background: The lack of data regarding health habits of medical students in Greece prompted a cross-sectional study to assess tobacco use, alcohol consumption and serum lipoprotein levels among students in the University of Crete School of Medicine. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire on smoking and alcohol consumption was distributed to third-year medical students for twelve consecutive years (1989–2000). A total of 849 students (462 males, 387 females) participated in the survey. Biochemical measurements were taken and multi-variant analysis of the data was performed. Results: The prevalence of smoking among males and females was 33.2% (N=150) and 28.4% (N=108), respectively (mean cigarette consumption 13/day). As many as 349 males (77.2%) and 220 females (58.0%) reported consuming alcohol on a regular basis. The prevalence of low HDL-cholesterol (4.1 mmol/l) in 11.1% of male and 5.5% of female participants. Smoking was related to higher triglyceride (p=0.032), and lower HDL-cholesterol (p=0.037) serum levels. Total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and the TC/HDL-cholesterol ratio were strongly related with the level of smoking (p=0.006, p=0.008, and p=0.006 respectively). Conclusions: The results document a high prevalence of smoking among physicians-to-be in Greece. Tobacco use was strongly associated with a lipid profile predisposing to increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Health promotion programmes should therefore be instituted not only during the first years of medical studies, but rather at a much earlier stage in life.