Objective: This article presents the results of monitoring students who enrolled at Universidad Santiago de Cali (USC) during the second half of 2004. Its purpose was to determine the influence of smoking, the academic programme and the cost of enrollment on student survival over a three-year period (2004-2007).
Method: The study involved a prospective cohort of 970 students who entered the university in 2004. Cox regression was used for survival analysis to determine the relationship between independent variables and university stay.
Results: The results of this model established associations between smoking and department with survival in the university, but discarded association with the cost of enrollment. The risk of university desertion was higher amongst students from the Health faculty adjusted for smoking (RR = 1.277 (1.121-1.455)). Similarly, the risk of desertion was higher in smokers adjusted by faculty (RR = 1.194 (1.026-1.390).
Conclusions: It was found that habitual smokers had shorter university stay than nonsmokers. University stay was longer in students enrolled in academic programmes other than health.