Awareness, knowledge and perception of electronic cigarettes among undergraduate students in Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia.

The use of electronic cigarettes (e‐cigarettes) has steadily grown over the past few years, rising in popularity amongst young adults, especially. Owing to the perception that e‐cigarettes are less harmful than conventional cigarettes, some people have resorted to using them as a means of quitting cigarette smoking. This study aimed to assess the awareness, knowledge, perception and use of e‐cigarettes among Jazan University students in Saudi Arabia. An observational cross‐sectional study was conducted with 775 students. Using stratified random sampling to recruit study participants, the dataset tabling the use of e‐cigarettes, as well as knowledge, perception and awareness was collected using a translated and culturally adapted structured Arabic questionnaire. Our results showed that 21.0% of the participants used e‐cigarettes and 35.1% of them used them to quit smoking. E‐cigarette use was mostly reported by students from the College of Medical Applied Sciences (31.7%). The overall knowledge score was 3.9, with a standard deviation of 1.3 for the score range from zero to seven. About half of the participants correctly identified e‐cigarettes as not less addictive' than cigarettes. However, 70.2% of students failed to identify e‐cigarettes as a source of second‐hand exposure to nicotine. About two‐thirds of the sample believed that e‐cigarettes could adversely affect health. The perception of using e‐cigarettes for smoking cessation was not significantly associated with e‐cigarette use. In conclusion, the prevalence of e‐cigarette use was similar to that reported in the literature. However, Jazan University students failed to identify the health risks associated with e‐cigarette use. Therefore, a strategy to enhance students' awareness of the benefits and harms of e‐cigarettes is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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