EFFECTIVE FACTORS ON SMOKING BASED ON BASNEF MODEL IN MALE STUDENTS IN TEHRAN MEDICAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY IN 2009

Smoking as a health risk behavior endangers not only the individual but also
community health and is one of the preventable causes of death. This risk behavior is growing among
educated young people. This study was aimed to investigate effective factors leading to smoking based
on BASNEF Model in male students in Tehran Medical Sciences University in 2009.
Materials & Methods: This descriptive analytical study was performed on 200 male students that were
selected by snowball sampling method. The data were collected using a questionnaires based on
BASNEF Model. The data were analyzed by Chi-square tests, and Pearson correlation coefficient.
Results: The survey results showed that the most frequent causes of smoking were easy access to
cigarettes (80%) and peers smoking (82%). Considering the attitude of the samples 33.5% had a
positive, 19.5% neutral and 47% had a negative attitude toward smoking. There was a significant
association between positive attitude to smoking and students’ years of study or parental education.
There also was a significant relationship between age at onset of smoking with either parents or peers
smoking. There was a relationship between low price cigarettes and the number of cigarettes smoked
per day. The average number of cigarettes smoked per day and students age and cigar costs per month
showed a positive correlation.
Conclusion: The importance of attitudes, subjective norms, and factors affecting smoking are
highlighted in the study and health officials must urge to pursue structural interventions to prevent
them