Abstract
Objective: To outline the general profile of medical school students from a private university in the state of Sergipe who use tobacco, as well as to analyze their patterns of use and abuse. Methods: This is a descriptive study with a qualitative and quantitative approach. The sample obtained was 281 medical students from the 1st to the 6th year. The collection instrument was a specific questionnaire that addressed the beginning of tobacco use, frequency, dependence, causes and consequences. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: It was possible to verify that: 32% of the questioned students use or have used tobacco at some point. Of the total universe, 46.7% were men who used it in contrast to 24.7% women. Regarding the stage of the course in which they used it, the highest percentages correspond to 3rd (14.4%) and 8th (17.8%). Of the drug users, 52.4% never tried to stop the use and 90% denied any dysfunctionality. Conclusion: It was concluded that the prevalence of smoking among medical students at the university evaluated was high, despite the awareness of the possibility of dysfunctionalities, and that such prevalence is initiated by factors such as the objective of fun and stress reduction.