Skip to main content
Log in

Assessing smoking behaviour among medical students by the measurement of expired carbon monoxide (CO)

Evaluierung des Rauchverhaltens bei Medizinstudenten durch Messung des Kohlenmonoxidgehaltes in der Ausatemluft

  • Themenschwerpunkt
  • Published:
Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Zusammenfassung

Rauchverhalten und Prävalenzraten von Medizinstudenten und medizinischen Personal sind wichtige Themen der öffentlichen Gesundheit, da ärztliche Einstellungen und Interventionen im Rahmen der Raucherentwöhnung entscheidend sind für den Erfolg der Patienten. Raucherprävalenz-Studien verwenden normalerweise persönliche Interviews oder selbst auszufüllende Fragebögen, was zu ungenauen Ergebnissen führen kann. Eine zusätzliche Messung des Kohlenmonoxidgehaltes in der Ausatemluft ist eine objektive, einfache, nichtinvasive und kostengünstige Methode das Rauchverhalten aufzuzeigen und wird eines Tages die heute übliche Frage nach der Zahl der gerauchten Zigaretten ersetzen. Während einer Pflichtlehrveranstaltung an der Medizinischen Universität Wien wurde bei 260 Medizinstudenten eine CO-Messung durchgeführt. 12 % der Studenten waren Aktivraucher, 9,5 % hatten Werte im Grenzbereich von 6–10 ppm und 78 % waren Nichtraucher. Die Studenten hatten somit die Gelegenheit, eine wichtige diagnostische Technik kennenzulernen und zusätzlich ihre eigenen Rauchgewohnheiten zu überdenken.

Summary

Smoking behaviour and prevalence rates among medical students and medical professionals are important public health issues, as physicians' attitudes and interventions are decisive for the patients' success in quitting smoking. Studies dealing with prevalence rates of smoking usually use only face-to-face interviews or self-administered questionnaires, which may induce vague findings. Additional measurement of exhaled carbon monoxide is an objective, easy, immediate, non-invasive and inexpensive mode of indicating smoking behaviour and will complement and at some stage replace the usual question regarding the number of cigarettes consumed. CO-measurement of 260 medical students was taken during compulsory public health training at the Medical University Vienna. Definite indication of active smoking was found in 12% of the students, 9.5% showed CO-levels between 6 and 10 ppm and 78% were definitely non-smokers with a CO level between 0 and 5 ppm. The students had the opportunity to get to know an important diagnostic technique and additionally learned about their own smoking habits.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  • Senol Y, Donmez L, Turkay M, Aktekin M. The incidence of smoking and risk factors for smoking initiation in medical faculty students: cohort study. BMC Public Health, 6: 128, 2006

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Center of Disease Control. Tobacco use and cessation counseling – global health professionals survey pilot study, 10 countries. MMWR Weekly, 54: 505–509, 2005

    Google Scholar 

  • Sieminska A, Jassem JM, Uherek M, Wilanowski T, Nowak R, Jassem E. Tobacco smoking among the first year medical students. Pneumonol Alergol Pol, 74: 377–382, 2006

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith DR, Leggat PA. An international review of tobacco smoking in the medical profession: 1974–2004. BMC Public Health, 7: 115, 2007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosselli D, Rey O, Calderon C, Rodriguez MN. Smoking in Colombian Medical Schools: the hidden curriculum. Prev Med, 33: 170–174, 2001

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patkar AA, Hill K, Batra V, Vergare MJ, Leone FT. A comparison of smoking habits among medical and nursing students. Chest, 124: 1415–1420, 2003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Middleton ET, Morice AH. Breath carbon monoxide as an indicator of smoking habit. Chest, 117: 758–763, 2000

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Deveci SE, Deveci F, Acik Y, Ozan AT. The measurement of exhaled carbon monoxide in healthy smokers and non-smokers. Respir Med, 98: 551–556, 2004

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Groman E. Evaluation of smoking prevalence: will there be an end to self-administered questionnaires? Prev Med, 30: 346, 2000

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Groman E, Kunze U, Schmeiser-Rieder A, Schoberberger R. Measurement of expired carbon monoxide among medical students to assess smoking behaviour. Soz Präv Med, 43: 322–324, 1998

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Underner M, Ingrand P, Allouch A, Laforgue AV, Migeot V, Defossez G, Meurice JC. Influence of smoking among family physicians on their practice of giving minimal smoking cessation advice. Rev Mal Respir, 23: 426–429, 2006

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Squier C, Hesli V, Lowe J, Ponamorenko V, Medvedovskaya N. Tobacco use, cessation, advice to patients and attitudes to tobacco control among physicians in Ukraine. Eur J Cancer Prev, 15: 458–463, 2006

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kööler W, Lanzenberger M, Zwick H. Smoking habits of office-based general practitioners and internists in Austria and their smoking cessation efforts. Wien Klin Wochenschr, 114: 762–765, 2002

    Google Scholar 

  • Pretti G, Roncarolo F, Bonfanti M, Bettinelli E, Invernizzi G, Ceccarelli M, Carreri V, Tenconi MT. Survey among GP's about their smoking habitus, opinions and behaviours in smoking prevention in Lombardy (Northern Italy). Epidemiol Prev, 30: 343–347, 2006

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Abdullah AS, Rahman AS, Suen CW, Wing LS, Ling LW, Mei LY, Tat LC, Tai MN, Wing TN, Yuen WT, Kwan YH. Investigation of Hong Kong doctors' current knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, confidence and practices: implications for the treatment of tobacco dependency. J Chin Med Assoc, 69: 461–471, 2006

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce MS, Hayes L. Self-reported smoking status and exhaled carbon monoxide: results from two population-bases epidemiological studies in the North of England. Chest, 128: 1233–1238, 2005

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chatkin J, Fritscher L, de Abreu C, Cavalet-Blanco D, Chatkin G, Wagner M, Fritscher C. Exhaled carbon monoxide as a marker for evaluating smoking abstinence in a Brazilian population sample. Prim Care Respir J, 16: 36–40, 2007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dolcine MM, Adler NE, Lee P, Baumann KE. An assessment of the validity of adolescent self-reported smoking using three biological indicators. Nicotine Tob Res, 5: 473–483, 2003

    Google Scholar 

  • Hublet A, De Bacquer D, Valimaa R, Godeau E, Schmid H, Rahav G, Maes L. Smoking trends among adolescents from 1990 to 2002 in ten European countries and Canada. BMC Public Health, 6: 280–286, 2006

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schoberberger R, Kunze U, Schmeiser-Rieder A, Groman E, Kunze M. Vienna standard in diagnosis of nicotine dependence: Vienna Standard Smoking Inventory. Wien Med Wochenschr, 148: 52–59, 1998

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ursula Kunze.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kunze, U., Böhm, G., Ferstl, F. et al. Assessing smoking behaviour among medical students by the measurement of expired carbon monoxide (CO). Wien Med Wochenschr 159, 14–16 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-008-0635-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10354-008-0635-7

Schlüsselwörter

Key words

Navigation