Introduction:
Nurses are powerful agents in public health, which includes being active in tobacco control. Nursing students, as the future labor force of Nursing, constitute one of the key groups to monitor. Objective: To identify the prevalence and predictors of smoking tobacco products use and cannabis use among the overall population of nursing students in Catalonia.

Methods:
Cross-sectional multicenter study conducted in 15 University Nursing Schools in Catalonia (conducted in 2015-16). An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire in paper based on the Global Health Professional Survey was designed. The questions included information on consumption of tobacco products (manufactured cigarettes, rolling cigarettes, shisha, and electronic cigarettes), cannabis use, and several sociodemographic variables (age, year of school, type of Nursing school). We computed prevalence rates (%) and calculated multilevel logistic regressions models to calculate the odds ratios (OR) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95%CI).

Results:
4,381 students participated (57.1% of Nursing students in Catalonia). 29.7% were smokers (18.4% daily and 11.3% occasional). Daily consumption increased with age (≤19: 10.8%, 20-24: 20.0%, ≥25: 27.6%, p <0.001). The main predictors of smoking were: male sex (OR: 2.81, 95%CI: 2.11-3.73), age ≥25 years (OR: 2.57, 95%CI: 2.03-3.26) and birth in other regions than Catalonia (OR: 1.82, 95%CI: 1.30-2.54). Among smokers, 66.4% used manufactured cigarettes, 47.0% roll-your-own cigarettes, 10.0% shisha and 0.4% electronic cigarettes. 71.5% had low nicotine dependence. 11.5% used cannabis (daily or occasionally).

Conclusions:
Tobacco and cannabis use is high among nursing students. It is necessary to carry out early tobacco and cannabis cessation programs among young Nursing graduates, taking into account that their prevalence and addiction consolidate along the University years.

Funding:
Catalan Council of Nurses (REF: 1043).