| Summary: | Introduction
This study aimed to estimate the magnitude of tobacco smoking among
healthcare workers (HCWs) and to assess the need to establish a smoking cessation
program.
Methods
This is an institute survey that targeted HCWs from the following specialties:
physicians, allied healthcare professionals and administrative workers who are
affiliated to a tertiary healthcare institution in the western region of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia (KSA). An electronic self-administrated questionnaire was distributed
among the study subjects during the day shift from June to September, 2015. The
analysis was descriptive, and comparison of the characters of smokers and nonsmokers
was done.
Results
The total number of participating HCWs was 697 with about 62.3% response
rate. Males (62.3%), allied health professionals (45.2%), and age group 19–30 years
old (44.5%) dominated the sample. The crude prevalence of the current smoking
was 18.4%, while 9.8% were past smokers, and 71.9% never smokers. Administrative
workers, males and Saudis demonstrated significantly higher prevalence of current
smoking (p>0.001). Approximately half of the current smokers had a mild smoking
intensity and the subgroups did not show any significant differences for nicotine
dependence (p>0.05). The results of the attitude towards smoking cessation
showed that 80.3% of the currently smoking HCWs had positive attitudes and
there were no statistically significant differences based on the characteristics of the
participants (p>0.05).
Conclusions
The smoking prevalence among HCWs included in the study parallels
nationally reported values. The results showed a need for the establishment of
smoking cessation programs targeting HCWs, which eventually should make Mecca
(Makkah) city truly free from smoking.
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