Knowledge, attitudes and practices of family physicians about smoking cessation

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine knowledge, attitudes and practices of family physicians about smoking addiction treatment.

Material and Methods: A total of 123 family physicians participated in study out of all (n: 154) family physicians working in Kahramanmaraş. After obtaining their informed consent, a standard questionnaire comprising questions regarding socio-demographic characteristics, their knowledge, attitude and practices about smoking cessation was applied to participants. Knowledge score of family physicians was obtained by scoring each of 14 questions about smoking addiction treatment methods and smoking cessation techniques.

Results: Of physicians participating in the study, 92 (74,8%) were male and 31 (25,2%) were female, with a mean age of 39,9±6,5 (22-66) years. The mean duration of professional experience of physicians was 14,5±6,4 (2-39) years. Of all, 30 (24,4%) participants were cigarette smokers, while 67 (54,5%) had given up smoking. A total of 104 (85,2%) participants stated that they had no training about smoking cessation methods. While, 65 (53,3%) participants were willing to take education about smoking cessation methods, ninety-five (79,8%) participants stated that physicians should play an active role in the fight against smoking addiction. The average level of knowledge score of family physicians about smoking cessation techniques and addiction treatment was 8,9±3,0 (0-14).

Conclusion: Family physicians are not included in the health-care services against smoking as needed. The knowledge of family physicians about smoking cessation techniques and addiction treatment was insufficient. Furthermore, they had not received specific training about the hazards of smoking and smoking cessation, which causes interruption of an efficient fight against smoking. Therefore, training about fight against smoking should be implemented in family physicians’ training programmes.