Smoking among doctors of military hospital Rawalpini; frequency habits and attitudes

ABSTRACT

To know the frequency of smoking habit among doctors of Military Hospital Rawalpindi and to know their attitudes towards it .Questionnaire based descriptive study. The study was conducted at Department of Medicine, Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from December 2004 to May 2005. 106 doctors from Military Hospital, Rawalpindi were included either by direct interviews or by filling of questionnaire by the participants. Smokers, all male, were 18 [17% of responders]. Mean age of starting smoking was 19.4 years. Average number of cigarettes smoked per day was 12.6. Among smokers 11 [61.1%] were not willing to quit smoking. A majority of non-smoker doctors considered themselves as role models and agreed that smoking at public places should be prohibited. Smoking among doctors in this study is not high however there is less willingness to combat smoking habits of patients in doctors who smoke. A continuing education program should be instituted to motivate doctors about their role in society