Knowledge, attitudes and prevalence of tobacco use among physicians and dentists in Oman

Tobacco use among Omani physicians and dentists has not been studied, so we conducted a cross-sectional survey using a WHO questionnaire to measure prevalence and to learn about smoking practices among this population and about their knowledge and attitudes of the health effects of tobacco use and tobacco control. The 1191 subjects who participated (787 men and 404 women) ranged in age from 24 to 65 years with a mean (SD) of 41.7 (6.8) years for men and 38.1 (6.9) years for women. The prevalence of tobacco use was 16.4% among males and less than 1% among females. Manufactured cigarettes were the most common form of tobacco used (14.7%), followed by smokeless tobacco (2.2%) and waterpipes (1.7%). Tobacco users were significantly less favorable to strict control and policy measures than never tobacco users and had less knowledge of some of the heatlh effects of tobacco use. Tobacco use among physicians and dentists in Oman is lower than in other countries in the region, but remains a cause of concern. Programs and policies should strive to maintain the low level of tobacco use or reduce it further.