Tobacco use among health care workers in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
The present study targeted health care workers (HCWs) in Governmental Hospitals and Primary Health Care Centers in Abha City, southwestern Saudi Arabia. An anonymous self-report questionnaire was used to assess tobacco use and the reasons for smoking. The present study included 736 HCWs. The overall prevalence of tobacco use amounted to 26.3% (14.8% current and 11.5% former users). In a binary logistic regression analysis, males were found significantly more prone to smoke compared to females (aOR = 3.081, 95% CI: 2.004-4.739). Similarly, parental history of tobacco use was found to be a significant risk factor (aOR = 1.540, 95% CI: 1.040-2.278). Among current users, 89.9% were interested in quitting and 66.1% tried before to quit. The prevalence of smoking among HCWs in the present study, besides being a public health problem, represents a potential barrier in involving this group as a first line for tobacco control. There is a need for a national intervention programme in the country in a tailored manner for HCWs to control tobacco use parallel to the running national program for public. These interventions should begin early in basic medical education and to be applied continually during one's medical career.
Department of Family & Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia.
Ahmed A
AA
Mahfouz
Abdullah S
AS
Shatoor
Badr R
BR
Al-Ghamdi
Mervat A
MA
Hassanein
Shamsun
S
Nahar
Aesha
A
Farheen
Inasse I
II
Gaballah
Amani
A
Mohamed
Faten M
FM
Rabie
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D064424:Tobacco Use / Q000453:epidemiology*