Cigarette smoking status and smoking cessation counseling of Chinese physicians in Wuhan, Hubei province.
Among the 347 physicians surveyed, 58% of the male physicians and 18.8% of the female physicians were current cigarette smokers; 54.4% of the male and 70.4% of the female physicians often or always provided smoking cessation counseling for patients; 37.5% of the physicians thought that for a Chinese smoker, cigarette smoking served as a social lubricant; 31.5% thought it a habit; 21.7% thought it a stress reliever; and 9.2% thought it a social status symbol. The following 5 variables were significantly associated with physicians' smoking cessation counseling frequency: their smoking status, perceived success in their past counseling, perceived influence, perceived exemplary role, and perceived responsibility. To increase physicians' smoking cessation counseling, the Chinese Ministry of Health would need to discourage physicians to smoke and appeal to their sense of responsibility to help patients quit smoking.
Han Zao Li
Department of Psychology, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada. lih@unbc.ca
Weixing Sun
Fangmei Cheng
Xiangrong Wang
Weiping Liu
Aisheng Wang
D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D000074606:Smoking Prevention