title: [Why do doctors smoke?].
abstract: Smoking prevalence is decreasing in developed countries in the last decades. Nevertheless, there is a constant increase of morbidity and mortality of smoking-related diseases (COPD, asthma, respiratory infections, cardiac diseases, cancer). Then why do doctors smoke? Because they experimented in adolescence and college and the addiction developed fast, while information about smoking risks arrived too late. Five hundred questionnaires were distributed to 100 doctors and 400 students between March-April 2009; 50% were returned from the doctors and 90.5% from the students. We analyzed comparative the smoking status (60% non-smoking doctors and 56.9% non-smoking students. Mean age was 25.05 for doctors and 24.2 for smoking students. Mean starting age was 17.13 years, 17.78 respectively. They were asked about major components of cigarettes, main diseases induced by smoking, the effects of nicotine addiction, known laws and projects, the need for introducing in the university curricula of anti-smoking modules. 20% of the doctors and 14.5% of the students had a smoking-related disease. 52% of doctors and 57% of students supported forbidding smokingin public spaces, 13.7% of doctors and 88.9% of students supported the increase of cigarettes price, and only 48% of doctors and 47% of students suggested the need of help for smoking cessation. We noticed there are flaws in knowledge of extra pulmonary diseases in students as well as doctors. Most respondents had lacking, non-systematic information and 96% of doctors and only 69.6% of students consider useful tabaccology lectures. For stopping epidemic morbidity and mortality due to smoking related diseases, there is need for involving all those working in health programmes. For this, medical schools should do better in preparing specialists. We also consider it is time that all medical specialties should consider smoking cessation a priority, while the pneumologists should sustain a systematic and routine activity against smoking.
authors.affiliation: UMF Cluj Iuliu Haţieganu. manmilenaadina@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Milena Adina
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Man
authors.forename: Cosmina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bondor
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pop
authors.forename: Ruxandra
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Râjnoveanu
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alexandrescu
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rusu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000453:epidemiology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control