Puff or pass: do social media and social interactions influence smoking behaviour of university students? A cross-sectional mixed methods study from Dhaka, Bangladesh

ObjectiveTo determine whether the odds of being a smoker differ based on social media use and social interactions among urban university students in Bangladesh.HypothesisSocial 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