The frequency of smoking and common factors leading to continuation of smoking among health care providers in tertiary care hospitals of Karachi.
BACKGROUND
The primary objective of the study was to find out the frequency of tobacco smoking among health care providers in tertiary care hospitals of Karachi. The secondary objective was to identify the common factors responsible for the continuation of smoking.


METHODS
This cross sectional study was conducted in the wards and out-patient departments of three selected tertiary hospitals of Karachi. A total of 180 health care providers were enrolled in the study using proportionate stratified sampling. Postgraduate students, house officers and trainees were excluded from the study. Data were collected from randomly selected health care providers using survey methodology. SPSS v. 20.0 was used to enter and analyze the data.


RESULTS
Fifty two participants out of 180 were smokers for past one year (28.9%). Among them, 21 (11.7%) smoked more than 5 cigarettes per day. Twenty smokers (11.1%) were found to smoke due to peer influence. It was found that those who were influenced by their peers were 8.33 times more prone to be addicted to smoking than those who were less influenced. Similarly, the likelihood of addiction increased up to 76.9% with the lack of incentives.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results clearly indicate that a large number of health care providers smoke which should be a serious concern. Hence our health agencies should take immediate action in order to curtail the heaving burden of smoking and its related health consequences.
Dow Medical College, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan. shahzebkhan@gmail.com.
Muhammad Shahzeb
MS
Khan
Faizan Imran
FI
Bawany
Muhammad Umer
MU
Ahmed
Mehwish
M
Hussain
Noreen
N
Bukhari
Nighat
N
Nisar
Maham
M
Khan
Ahmed
A
Raheem
Mohammad Hussham
MH
Arshad
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D010379:Peer Group; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology