Prevalence of and Attitudes towards Smoking among Spanish Health Professionals
Carlos A Jiménez-Ruiz1, Juan Antonio Riesco Miranda, Angela Ramos Pinedo
1Smoking Research Programme of the Spanish Respiratory Society (SEPAR), Barcelona, Spain.
Background:
The MPOWER strategy encourages suitable monitoring of the tobacco epidemic among health professionals in all countries.
Objective:
To analyse the prevalence of and attitudes towards tobacco use among Spanish health professionals.
Methods:
A study was conducted based on an online survey. The study population consisted of health professionals (primary care physicians, specialist physicians and nurses). The questionnaire used included questions about tobacco consumption, knowledge of and attitudes towards smoking. The sample size was calculated according to a database with 9,500 e-mail addresses and listings of health centres and hospitals all over Spain. Statistical analysis was done using the SPSS software programme.
Results:
The study group comprised a total of 612 health professionals: 322 were women (52.6%), 196 were nurses and 416 were physicians. 11.7% of health professionals were smokers (9.6% regular smokers and 2.1% occasional smokers) and 41.3% were ex-smokers. Within the group of daily smokers, differences were observed between the nurses and the physicians: 11.2 versus 8.9% (p = 0.009). Smoking was recognized as a chronic disorder by 58.2% of health professionals, and 54.6% knew that the most effective intervention to help quit is a combination of psychological and pharmacological treatment. 56% of health professionals always asked their patients about their tobacco consumption.
Conclusions:
11.7% of Spanish health professionals are smokers. We found that they have low knowledge about strategies to quit smoking and that there is a low level of therapeutic intervention on smokers.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques IV
Statistical Methods for Analyzing Epidemiological Data
Prevalence and Incidence
Prevalence indicates the proportion of individuals in a population who have a specific disease or health...
Bias in Epidemiological Studies
Acute Coronary Syndrome IV: Interprofessional Care
Lifestyle Factors and Health
Benefits of Physical Activity
Physical activity, whether through structured exercise or casual activities like walking, biking, or dancing, is a cornerstone of a...


