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Tobacco Use Among Dental Students in Morocco: Opportunities for Professional Cancer Education

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Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate tobacco use, attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions about tobacco control policies and smoking cessation counseling among dental students in Morocco. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Dentistry Faculty of the Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences of Casablanca, using the Global Health Professions Student Survey (GHPSS) tool. Participants completed a self-administered survey questionnaire, including information on socio-demographic characteristics, tobacco use, exposure to secondhand smoke, attitudes, behavior and cessation, curriculum, and training. A total of 426 dental students were included in the study. Over 15% of the participants were current smokers, and 31.2% had tried smoking at least once. About 29.3% reported having been exposed to secondhand smoke in family settings and 49.5% in other environments. The majority of the students had felt that health professionals were role models for their patients. However, only 20% had felt they had received formal training in smoking cessation approaches. More than 70% of smokers had tried to quit smoking in the past year; however, only 41.7% reported having received help or advice. It is crucial that education and public health officials join efforts to plan and carry out programs aimed at training dental students in evidence-based cessation counseling methods, in order to change their own smoking behavior and assist their future patients. Improving dental school curriculums with regard to tobacco use prevention and cessation is also a powerful means of alleviating the national burden of cancer.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all dental students who participated in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International School of Public Health, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences (UM6SS), Casablanca, Morocco

    Mohamed Khalis, Jonathan Muhunga Wa Tembo, Oumnia Bouaddi, Imad El Badisy & Chakib Nejjari

  2. Faculty of Dentistry, Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences (UM6SS), Casablanca, Morocco

    Latifa Elmouden & Asmaa Hatim

  3. Department of Research and Development, Ibn Sina University Hospital, Rabat, Morocco

    Hafida Charaka

  4. National School of Public Health of Rabat, Ministry of Health, Rabat, Morocco

    Bouchra Assarag

  5. Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno III

  6. Department of Community Health and Social Medicine, City University of New York, School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Amr S. Soliman

Authors
  1. Mohamed Khalis
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  2. Jonathan Muhunga Wa Tembo
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  3. Latifa Elmouden
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  4. Asmaa Hatim
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  9. Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno III
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  10. Amr S. Soliman
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  11. Chakib Nejjari
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Contributions

Conceptualization, Mohamed Khalis; methodology, Mohamed Khalis, Latifa Elmouden, and Asmaa Hatim; formal analysis and investigation, Jonathan Muhunga Wa Tembo and Imad El Badisy; writing— original draft preparation, Jonathan Muhunga Wa Tembo and Oumnia Bouaddi; writing— review and editing, Mohamed Khalis, Latifa Elmouden, Asmaa Hatim, Hafida Charaka, Bouchra Assarag, Imad El Badisy, Don Eliseo III Lucero-Prisno, Amr Soliman, and Chakib Nejjari; supervision, Mohamed Khalis and Chakib Nejjari.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohamed Khalis.

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Ethics Approval

The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the Cheikh Khalifa Ibn Zaid University Hospital of Casablanca. All participants of this study completed an informed consent form. Data collection was anonymous, and confidentiality was guaranteed.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Khalis, M., Tembo, J.M.W., Elmouden, L. et al. Tobacco Use Among Dental Students in Morocco: Opportunities for Professional Cancer Education. J Canc Educ 38, 821–828 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-022-02191-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-022-02191-7

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