Comparison of Smoking Cessation Practices among Smoker and Non-smoker Health Care Providers: A KAP Study in Northern Saudi Arabia

Alsaqry, Abdullah Saud; Dar, Umer Farooq; Banday, Altaf Hussain; Alsharari, Talal Mohammed; Alrushaydan, Ayman Khalil

doi:10.21608/ejhm.2018.11547

Comparison of Smoking Cessation Practices among Smoker and Non-smoker Health Care Providers: A KAP Study in Northern Saudi Arabia

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Al-Jouf University

10.21608/ejhm.2018.11547

Abstract

Background and objectives: health care Providers (HCPs) are epicenters for counseling the smokers to quit smoking and adopt healthy lifestyle based on informed decisions. The effects of smoking status of HCPs on cessation practices are contradictory in published literature. The northern Saudi Arabia has high smoking prevalence so is the need for cessation interventions. We carried out the KAP study to determine the difference in knowledge, attitude and practices between smoker and non-smoker HCPs. Materials and Methods: using non-probability consecutive sampling, 268 HCPs including physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, and paramedical staff were included from governmental Hospitals and primary health centers of Aljouf region. A self-administered questionnaire containing Global Adult Tobacco Survey and standard practice guidelines for smoking cessation intervention in Hospitals and primary care centers was used for data collection. Results: we found that HCPs (14.92%) were current smokers, 2.6% were former smokers. Among female HCPs, there was no reported active smoking but 48.94% reported passive smoking. Knowledge of hazards of smoking among HCPs was up to standard. In addition, there was obvious misbelieve that Certain Types of Cigarettes Can Be Less Harmful Than Other among all HCPs (Smokers and non-smoker HCPs significantly differed in advising smoking cessation (p value < 0.01). Among other variables, increasing taxes on tobacco sale (p value < 0.01) and applying standard guidelines for smoking cessation intervention (p value < 0.01) were significantly different between groups. Lacking skills and facilities e.g. medical supply were the most frequency reasons for not starting smoking cessation intervention. Conclusion: because of high prevalence of smoking among HCPs and its negative effects on patient counseling, we suggested that there should be systematic and quality mechanism intact for quitting smoking independent of personal attitude of health care providers and initiate training center along with providing pharmacological supply for smoking cessation intervention in Aljouf region.

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