[Smoking habits of medical students. Smoking habits of Danish medical students and their knowledge about and attitudes to the tobacco problem].

In 1987, 74 Danish first-year and 90 final-year medical students from Aarhus University participated in a global questionnaire investigation concerning the smoking habits of medical students and their attitudes to the tobacco problem. This investigation was initiated by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. In order to observe particular characteristics or unexpected findings, the Danish percentage replies were calculated and compared with corresponding average figures for the other European medical students and Danish doctors and the normal population. A statistically significant difference was demonstrated in a single instance only: the proportion of smokers among Danish final-year female medical students in the last term was considerably higher than among junior doctors. Strikingly few Danish medical students towards the end of their curriculum considered smoking the main cause of coronary disease but problems in translation were possibly involved here. Unless a concrete reason was present, Danish medical students were very reticent concerning discussion of the injurious effects of smoking with patients. A possible reason for this was that only one fourth of the Danish final-year students considered that their present knowledge formed an adequate basis for patient counselling.