Habits of tobacco use among the medical and non-medical students of Kolkata.

Sir,

I read with curiosity the article titled “A study on habits of tobacco use among medical and nonmedical students of Kolkata” because of inappropriate matching of two samples of students in a city.[1] Comparison of medical students with nonmedical ones might be perfect in many conditions, but when there is a question of medical knowledge, the comparison of health education between these groups becomes mismatched. Medical students are enriched with medical knowledge, therefore they are all aware of health-related issues in detail, if not in depth. Thus, the study group and the comparison group are not equal.

In conclusion section, the authors have criticized the behavior of students for continued smoking. But, I personally think that this study would have given some insight into why health education fails. Failure of health education should be one of the areas for intense debate. This project offered a good opportunity to the authors, which I would say, were not utilized appropriately. A general remark on the causes of failure in this section is not appropriate in a study like this.

The students of the fifth year were taken into consideration. Even the medical course is having a duration of four and half years, or if you catch practically missing interns, five and half years. I don’t know which nonmedical course lasts for 5 years.