Smoking profile of non-consultant hospital doctors.
BACKGROUND
In 1994 Doll and colleagues published smoking mortality figures for British doctors over 40 years.


OBJECTIVE
To assess smoking prevalence among junior doctors in a major Dublin teaching hospital.


METHODS
One hundred and fourteen non-consultant doctors (NCHDs) at St James's Hospital received a confidential smoking questionnaire.


RESULTS
One hundred and six NCHDs responded (93%). Three refused, five were not available. Ninety per cent were aged 24-35 years. Twenty-six per cent of the doctors had smoked for 10 to 15 years. Seventy-five per cent were smoking more than 10 cigarettes daily. Ninety-seven per cent (20) of smokers wanted to stop smoking. Seventy-four per cent (17) had unsuccessfully attempted to quit. The smoking cessation method most commonly used was'cold turkey' in 60%. Others included nicotine replacement, bupropion and hypnotherapy.


CONCLUSIONS
A significant per centage of NCHDs (22%) continue to smoke, despite overwhelming evidence that this causes health problems. The prevalence in our study is lower than the national figure of 29%.
Naji
N
N
Dept of Respiratory Medicine, St James's Hospital, Dublin.
McLoughlin
H
H
Connell
F O
FO
Clancy
L
L
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data