[Factors related to smoking behavior of nursing students revealed by a cohort study].

PURPOSE: Through a cohort study, changes in smoking behavior of nursing students and the factors related to their smoking behavior were examined. METHOD: Research through anonymous questionnaires concerning smoking behavior was conducted on nursing students in the first to third grades (as of 1997) at two vocational schools of nursing located in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. The same research was conducted in the same manner on the same subjects the following year. RESULTS: The smoking prevalence among nursing students of the first and second grades as of 1997 had increased by 10% in one year, and that of nursing students of the third grade (to graduate in 1998) had increased by 5%. The average degree of nicotine dependence of the subjects, who replied that they smoked every day in both surveys, increased from 4.25 to 5.00. As to factors related to smoking behavior, the smoking behavior of friends largely influenced that of the nursing students. CONCLUSIONS: Education to prevent nursing students from smoking should be started as soon as possible at vocational schools of nursing, because the research showed that more than 70% of the smokers had actually thought of quitting and that their views toward smoking influenced later smoking behavior.