Global Health Professions Student Survey among Healthcare students: a cross sectional study.

Background: Healthcare professionals have the potential to influence patients' smoking status; however, their smoking habits and their opinions about tobacco use can hamper an effective counselling about smoking to patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among healthcare students from the Sapienza University of Rome using a previously validated Italian version of Global Health Professions Student Survey (GHPSS) online questionnaire.

Results: Overall, 349 students filled out the online survey: 158 (45%) were current smokers and 191 (55%) were nonsmokers. Nurses students had the highest percentage of smokers (55%). Healthcare students declared they had learned about the health consequences about tobacco use during their academic course (90%), however, only 24% received specific training on smoking cessation.

Conclusions: It is necessary to implement a smoking cessation course in the undergraduate curriculum in order to train healthcare professionals to provide patients an effective counselling against smoking.