Prevalence of e-cigarette use among students at a Medical School in Brazil: Preliminary results

<bold>Background:</bold> The use of e-cigarette is rising among youth, in which medical students are included. <bold>Objective:</bold> To determine the prevalence of e-cigarette use among medical students at a Medical School in Brazil. <bold>Methodology:</bold> Cross-sectional study. Students from Petropolis School of Medicine (PSM) in Brazil were invited to participate. After electronically signing an informed consent form, participants anonymously answered an electronic questionnaire with 20 questions covering demographic data, prevalence of e-cigarette and conventional cigarette smoking. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of PSM. <bold>Results:</bold> Among 175 students enrolled (135 female), 63% (110/175) reported prior experience with smoking, of which 62% (68/110) with both conventional cigarettes and e-cigarette; 30% (33/110) with e-cigarette only, and 8,2% (9/110) with conventional cigarettes only. Additionally, 29% (32/110) reported conventional and/or e-cigarette use in the past 30 days, with 69% (22/32) having used e-cigarette. The prevalence of e-cigarette use is higher among students in the later periods (31%; 10/32) of the medical course than among early periods (6,2%; 2/32) (p < 0.05). <bold>Conclusion:</bold> E-cigarette use is highly prevalent in the sample studied.