Smoking in a Saudi community: prevalance, influencing factors, and risk perception

Smoking is a major preventable cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world, but little information is available about the prevalence of smoking in Saudi Arabia. This study determined the prevalence of and major factors influencing smoking in our community.

We used a questionnaire to determine smoking prevalence of males over age 12 attending a primary care clinic in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire included items about factors influencing the decision to start smoking, attempts to stop smoking, and awareness of the risks of smoking.

Of 634 subjects, 34.4% (218) were current smokers, 16.4% (104) were ex-smokers, and 49.2% (312) were nonsmokers. The most common (66%) reason for starting smoking was friends' influence. About 75% had thought of stopping smoking, and 55% had actually attempted to stop. The most common (34%) reason reportedforfailed attempts to stop smoking was lack of willpower Awareness regarding the harmful effects of smoking was high (97.2%). More than 80% thought that a special smoking clinic would be helpful for quitting smoking.

Smoking prevalence is high in our community in Saudi Arabia. Most of the smokers know that smoking is dangerous and want to quit smoking but fail to stop for various reasons. Interventions are needed to decrease the prevalence of smoking in Saudi Arabia.