Tobacco, Anxiety and Depression Among Medical Students

Abstract

Introduction

Excessive tobacco consumption among students has negative repercussions on their health and education. Medical students are no exception. Numerous studies have demonstrated the relationship existing between smoking and depressive disorders.

Objective

To study the relationship between depression, anxiety and students smoking.

Method

We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study which included 80 students of the Faculty of Medicine of Sfax in Tunisia: 40 smokers and 40 no-smokers.

We used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for screening depressive and anxious symptoms. The evaluation of tobacco dependence was performed by Fagerstrom test.

Results

The average age of the participants was 23 years with a male predominance (SR=1,66). The smokers were in 80% of cases males and in 55% of cases dependents. Thirty-one percent (31%) of our population were depressed and 28.7% were anxious. A statistically significant correlation was found between smoking and the presence of depression (p = 0.025) on one hand, and anxiety (p = 0.022) on the other hand. Tobacco dependence was related to male sex (p = 0.04) and depression (p = 0.03). There was no link between the same variable and anxiety.

Conclusion

It appears from our study a statistically significant relationship between smoking and anxio-depressive disorders. The degree of dependence is particularly related with depression. This dimension has to be considered in the therapeutic withdrawal project.