Eureka! Institutional Repository

Introduction: Smoking is one of the most serious addictions in the world. More than 7 million smokers die each year from direct tobacco use, while 1.2 million and up as result of exposure to tobacco and second hand smoke. The degree of nicotine dependence influences the decision of smokers to quit smoking and should be taken in to account by physicians in order to arrive at the best form of assistance to the smoker. The increased prevalence of smoking among health professionals has not being properly addressed. Systematic monitoring recording of the behaviors of health professionals and their training, can make them role models for the implementation of antismoking policy and can be crucial for reducing tobacco use by the rest of population. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of health professionals regarding smoking. Material and Methods: The sample of the study was a convenience sample consisting of health professionals of the tertiary public hospital of Thessaloniki who smoked during the elaboration of the study. An anonymous self administered questionnaire constructed for the purposes of these study, was used for data collection and consists of the following five parts: a)Demographic and Occupational Characteristics Questionnaire b)Nicotine Dependence Questionnaire (Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence) c)Scale of motivation for change of smoking behavior (Motivation Rulers Index) d)Scale on the motives/reasons for smoking cessation e) Scale of knowledge about smoking. Data analysis performed with IBMSSPS 25.0 (Statistical Package for Social Science). Results: The study involved 268 health professionals, 185 (69,8%) nurses, 51 (19,2%) nursing assistance, 12 (4,5%) trainees and 17 (6,4%) specialist doctors. Two-thirds of the health professionals who took part in the survey answered that they smoke in their workplace. However, the vast majority of participants (96.9%) do not smoke in front of patients. The majority have quit smoking at least once and described their selves as regular smokers. The average value of Fagerstrom score was 5,32 (±2,07) and was characterized as moderate dependence. Regarding the mood of change in their smoking behavior 68.8% stated than they want to quit smoking and that they tried to quit without any help. Participants seem to find it quit important to quit smoking. The majority of participants consider passive smoking equally harmful and 89,6% believe that there is a correlation between passive and active smoking and various diseases. In addition, 76,3% support the imposition of sanctions (criminal and financial) on places where smoking is prohibited. Health professionals who had children had higher mean scores of knowledge scores and smoking cessation motivations scores than those who did not. The relationship between the readiness of health professionals to quit smoking and marital status was found to be statistically significant (p=0.02). In addition, the educational level of the respondents is statistically significantly related to the knowledge score% (p=0.02). The relationship between age and the smoking cession scale is also statitistically significant (p=0.01). How important it is to quit smoking is statistically significant (p=0.04) to how ready they are to quit. Conclusions: All health professionals have a high knowledge of the harmful effects of smoking and want to quit smoking. They are in favor of the antismoking law and consider themselves as a model of health for the general population. Further enhancing the knowledge of health professionals about smoking cessation clinics, existing smoking cessation treatments and how they can participate in them would be particularly useful in reducing the proportion of smokers not only in health area but also in general population. Key words: Health workers, smoking, smoking cessation, smoking behavior, knowledge, change of smoking behavior, reasons for smoking cessation.