[Smoking in the African setting (Abidjan, Ivory coast): patient knowledge, attitude and behavior]

Recent studies on smoking conducted in the ivory coast have been sparse despite increasingly aggressive tobacco company campaigns. The purpose of this prospective study was to examine the influence of medical specialty on patient knowledge, attitude and smoking behavior among people consulting three university hospitals in Abidjan. The inquiry was performed with a questionnaire concerning a comparative series of 180 subjects (90 patients in each sample). Overall, the series included 16.10% active smokers, 15.60% former smokers, and 68.30% non-smokers, with no difference between the groups. The well-known feature of smoking with friends was main reason cited for beginning smoking. Three quarters of patients (75.9%) had attempted to stop smoking. Information about smoking was obtained from the media. The hospital was involved little in acquiring knowledge about smoking. Type of specialist consultation (hospital units providing care for smoking-related disease or not) had little influence. Hospital units should become more involved in the anti-smoking campaign. Consultations on cessation of smoking should be instituted in a country with highly aggressive smoking advertisements.