title: Smoking prevalence and attitude toward anti-smoking activities among Korean dentists.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the smoking habits and attitudes toward anti-smoking activities of Korean dentists according to their smoking status.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 2500 currently active Korean dentists in 2008. After 20% of the 1680 returned surveys (response rate 67.2%) were excluded due to missing data, 1443 surveys were analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 1443 respondents, most were male (81.8%) and age 40-49 was the most prevalent age group (41.6%). Approximately half of participating dentists were never-smokers, 24.6% were current smokers, and 29% were ex-smokers. Women (95.8%) were significantly more likely to have never smoked than men (35.4%). Prevalence of cigarette smoking of Korean male and female dentists was much lower than that of male and female Korean adults, respectively. Ex-smokers were significantly more likely to show a positive attitude about anti-smoking activities, compared to current smokers (p < .0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A majority of respondents agreed dentists should encourage their patients to stop smoking. Further effort is needed to encourage smoking cessation among male Korean dentists who smoke so they benefit from a healthier lifestyle and will subsequently be more likely to provide recommendations for smoking prevention and cessation for their patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive and Social Dentistry, School of Dentistry and Institute of Oral Biology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yong-Duk
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Lauren L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Patton
authors.forename: Ji-Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hae-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003815:Dentists / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires