2001 WHRG Grant Program

Faculty

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Symposia

Health Professions Students' Behaviors,
Attitudes, and Opinions Regarding Tobacco
Curriculum and Tobacco Intervention Roles
Jacquelyn L. Fried, RDH, MS
School of Dentistry, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Delivering health education and health promotion messages is a key role for health care professionals. Tobacco users are one target group in particular need of health messages and wellness interventions because tobacco use is the chief cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S. The literature suggests that health care professionals who feel prepared to deliver tobacco prevention and cessation messages are more likely to assume tobacco interventionist roles. In contrast, providers who use tobacco are less likely than non-users to intervene with tobacco using patients. Epidemiologic data indicate that young females (age 18-24) comprise a large proportion of tobacco users. The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is a health science center that houses several health professions. Some of these professions, e.g. nursing, dental hygiene, medical and research technology, have a preponderance of female students and practitioners. Others, including medicine, pharmacy and dentistry, although once predominantly male, now attract a substantial number of women.

Although some studies have documented tobacco use among professional students, no such study has assessed student tobacco use, perceived adequacy of tobacco curriculum content, and attitudes among students at UMB. If one important goal of the UMB health sciences center is to graduate health profesionals who will improve the public's health, these graduates must be prepared to address tobacco use. Therefore, it is important to gain knowledge about students' tobacco use behaviors and their attitudes concerning curriculum content in tobacco and the relationships of their own behaviors and attitudes to patient-centered interventions. Students' willingness to participate in campus sponsored cessation programs also will be assessed. Senior health professions students in the school of dental hygiene, dentistry, medicine, medical research and technology, nursing, and pharmacy will be recruited to respond to a 20 item survey that elicits demographic, tobacco use and attitudinal information regarding respondents' perceptions and opinions regarding their roles as tobacco use interventionists.

Data concerning demographic and tobacco use behaviors will be reported with descriptive statistics including frequency distributions and measures of central tendency. Chi-Square analyses will address the relationships between tobacco content curriculum adequacy and willingness to assume tobacco interventionist role. A significant level of P < .05 will be used for Chi-Square analyses. Given the fact that the majority of students on the UMB campus are female and that women in this age group are among the highest cohort of tobacco users, this study provides an appropriate focus for women's health research.