Results:
Demographics and Smoking Rates:
This study involves 80 PHCPs as participants out of which 51.1% aged between 25 and 35. The gender-based ration was (86.8%) female to male. Most of the participants (86.5%) were GP doctors. These ratios can be seen in Figure 1 and 2.
Smoking Rates and Practices:
Based on demographics and diagrammatic (figure 3) illustrations it was found that only 15% involved PHCPs were smokers out of which males ratio was higher (24%) in comparison to females which was only 11%. The observed variation p was significant (p=0.006). Only 5% participants had been ex-smokers while a major segment of 80% were non-smoker. Table 2 demonstrates that 10% participants smoked waterpipe only (9.1% females and 12% males) and 12.5% of the participants consumed only cigarettes. Those who only consumed cigarettes were all male, while 3.75% of the participants smoked both waterpipe and cigarette. Amongst all the PHCPs, waterpipe was the most common method of smoke consumption. Seventy-five percent of those currently smoking have smoked for ten years or more. The number of people smoking 20 or more cigarettes per day was 50%, and the same number of people i.e. 50% have tried to quit smoking over a period but without success. Another 50% of the participants revealed that they planned to quit in next six months.
Smoking-Related Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice
Smoking –Related Knowledge
This section presents the knowledge that has been generated based on the results of the questionnaire presented to smokers and non-smokers. Table 2 presents the facts that those physicians that do not smoke have displayed a higher level of knowledge than those who has been an ever-smoker. The results have been significant as an answer to the question that whether passive smokers are as prone to a lung disease risk as smokers. It has been revealed that the statistical difference of passive smoking has been (p=.004) which shows that passive smokers have been equally at risk with regards to lung and heart diseases. The risk in passive smokers in the lower respiratory tract has been found to be equally high (p=0.48). It was observed that the difference between the physicians who advise patients against passive smoking have been very minor. Smoking around children exposing them to passive smoke and maternal smoking during pregnancy leading to sudden infant death syndrome are closely related, and the difference between these observations has been minor (p=.136 and p=.064) respectively.
Attitude towards Smoking:
Smoking is harmful to health is revelation accepted by all the respondents as captured in Table 3 and all the responses have been agreed or strongly agree (p=.28). Physicians classified as never-smoking and ever-smoking had different opinions and attitudes towards smoking. The difference in attitude and opinion has been captured in below statements and their corresponding weight where never-smoking had a stronger opinion as compared to ever-smoking physicians.
1. Health professionals must regularly query their patients on smoking habits (p=.000)
2. Health professionals must regularly encourage their patients to quit all the habits related to smoking (p=.00)
3. Health professionals advice to patients on quitting smoke helps increases their chances of leaving smoking habits (p=.014)
4. Health professional must exemplify themselves by avoiding smoking (p=.002)
5. Health professionals are a role model to the public and their patients (p=.004)
6. Health professionals must actively participate in community groups to advise on smoking (p=.008)
7. Cigarette packages must carry larger prints of health warnings (p=.010)
8. Sponsorship of sports must be banned for tobacco companies (p=.046)
9. Tobacco products must be made extremely costly (p=.009)
Figure 4, reveals that 37.5% of the PHCPs including both ever/non-smokers did not have any kindly of policy to make their workplace smoke-free.
Practice Regarding Smoking Cessation:
As depicted in Table 4, counseling has been reported as the most frequently used intervention to help patients quit smoking habits constituting to 80% of the methods used. The other methods like traditional remedies, medication and self-help materials were reported to be 46.3%, 20%, and 41.3% respectively.
Training in Smoking Cessation:
Suggestions of family physicians for improving smoking cessation counseling:
Recommendation:
The price of cigarette in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been increased to 12 RS/per packet. However, it is still recommended to the government to add further taxes on tobacco products.
