[Attitudes of Brazilian pulmonologists toward nicotine dependence: a national survey].
Smoking is a medical condition, since there is drug dependence, and health professionals should treat it as a chronic disease. In order to understand the attitudes of Brazilian pulmonologists toward smokers, we conducted a national survey, using a questionnaire posted on the Internet, of 2,800 pulmonologists, 587 (21%) of whom completed and returned the questionnaires. We found that 3.2% of the respondents did not believe that smoking is a medical condition. Only 14.7% treated smokers, and 32.4% stated that they would refer smokers to another professional for treatment. These results suggest that Brazilian pulmonologists have insufficient knowledge of smoking cessation therapies.
Viegas
Carlos Alberto de Assis
CA
Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brasil. viegasc@uol.com.br
Valentim
Antonio Gabriel Teles
AG
Amoras
Jaene Andrade Pacheco
JA
Nascimento
Euler Junior Moreira
EJ
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001938:Brazil; D002983:Clinical Competence; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015272:Pulmonary Medicine; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000628:therapy*