ArticleBMJ open2020
Puff or pass: do social media and social interactions influence smoking behaviour of university students? A cross-sectional mixed methods study from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Social Ties and Behavioral Diffusion of Tobacco Use in Arab American Networks.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Article
- Investigating the prevalence of tobacco or other substance use (TOSU) and associated factors among the medical students: a nationwide cross-sectional survey from Bangladesh.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Influence of Antitobacco Message on Smoking Behavior Among University Students in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Smoking Susceptibility and Anti-Smoking Awareness in Adolescents and Young Adults of Bangladesh.Psychiatry investigation · 2025Article
- Short-Form Video Exposure and Its Two-Sided Effect on the Physical Activity of Older Community Women in China: Secondary Data Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether the odds of being a smoker differ based on social media use and social interactions among urban university students in Bangladesh. HYPOTHESIS: Social media use and social interactions influence the smoking behaviour of Bangladeshi university students, particularly in starting and maintaining cigarette smoking. DESIGN AND
settingA cross-sectional study using mixed methods on 600 student smokers and non-smokers recruited from two public and two private universities in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a lower middle-income country with limited resources. Exclusion criteria were those who did not use any form of social media and PhD students.
resultsOdds of smoking were significantly higher for those who socialised more than 4 hours/day (p<0.05; OR 1.75; 95% CI 1.12 to 2.75) and typically at night (p<0.05; OR 2.80; 95% CI 1.95 to 4.00). Odds of smoking were also higher for those who liked (p<0.05; OR 4.85; 95% CI 3.32 to 7.11), shared (p<0.05; OR 20.50; 95% CI 13.02 to 32.26) and followed (p<0.05; OR 2.88; 95% CI 1.36 to 6.11) tobacco-related content on social media. Qualitative analysis resulted in emergent themes of smokers imitating tobacco-related photos or videos seen on social media and peers as an influence for smoking initiation.
conclusionThis study suggests social media and social interactions may influence smoking behaviour in university students in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Future research should continue to investigate the roles social media and social interaction have on smoking in order to explore social media-based smoking cessation interventions or dissemination of smoking health hazards through social media.
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