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

@entity1 @entity286 @entity167 @entity412 @entity65 @entity165
BACKGROUND: The lack of data regarding health habits of medical students in Greece prompted a cross-sectional study to assess @entity286 use, @entity167 consumption and serum lipoprotein levels among students in the University of Crete School of Medicine. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire on smoking and @entity167 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 @entity167 on a regular basis. The prevalence of low HDL- @entity165 (< 0.9 mmol/l) was 14.5% in males and 5.1% in females, and of high LDL- @entity165 levels (> 4.1 mmol/l) in 11.1% of male and 5.5% of female @entity1 . Smoking was related to higher @entity412 (p = 0.032), and lower HDL- @entity165 (p = 0.037) serum levels. Total @entity165 , LDL- @entity165 , and the TC/HDL- @entity165 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. @entity286 use was strongly associated with a lipid profile predisposing to increased risk for @entity65 . 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.
