Motivators of strong dependence on vaping among medical students

<bold>Introduction:</bold> The data available to date on vaping as a mean of tobacco cessation is not conclusive. But the certainty about its harmfulness becomes evident. <bold>Objective:</bold> To study the characteristics of electronic cigarette consumption among medical students and the risk factors for high dependence. <bold>Method:</bold> Cross-sectional study in which we investigated the degree of vaping dependence using the Penn State E-cigarette Dependence Index (PSEDI) and the E-Cigarette Dependence Scale (CDS-12). We studied the reasons for vaping with the brief wisconsin inventory of smoking dependence motives (brief wisdm) scale. <bold>Results:</bold> 50 students responded to the questionnaires. The average duration of vaping was 20.5 months ± 16.5 months. The total Wisdm score was 38±14.8. Taste was the most encouraging motivator. For the “TOLERANCE” subscale of (WISDM), 42.7% of the variability was strongly explained by dependence (p<0.001). The association is also significant for the “weight control”, “Affective reinforcement”, “Automaticity”, and “MPD” subscales, with p=0.05, p=0.004, p=0.004 and p<0.001 respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that 71.6% of the variation in the WISDM score in these different subscales was explained by the level of dependence on vaping according to the PSEDI scale as well. Each WISDM score subscale was significantly associated (p<0.05) with the variation in the level of dependence of the PSEDI scale <bold>Conclusion:</bold> Vaping among medical students is considerable. The addiction is clear and it is linked to treatable reasons. Urgent efforts must be made for an awareness campaign and educational program highlighting the danger of such practice