Prevalence of smoking among health care providers in eastern province, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of smoking among health care providers in the eastern province. Questionnaires were distributed to health care workers in Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Out of 578 individuals only 15.1%[87] were smokers, occasional smokers were 13.3% [77], 4.7% were ex-smokers and the remaining 67% [387.] were non-smokers, The most common influencing factor was friends accounting for 66.7% [58/87]. A large number of the smokers 82.8% [72/87] had considered quitting smoking. Failure of attempts to quit smoking was largely due to lack of willpower 56.9% [41]. Most of the smokers were aware of the health hazards of smoking 93.1% [81] and 54.3% [44/87.] would check the nicotine level in cigarettes. It was concluded that smoking prevalence is relatively high among our hospital workers. Most of the smokers knew the harmful effects but did not succeed in quitting smoking due to various reasons