Frequency of Smoking and Specialized Awareness among Doctors and Nurses of Hospitals in Kerman, Iran

BACKGROUND: Nicotine is one of the strongest poisons. Every year about 75 thousand of Iranians die due to smoking. Since doctors and nurses have a major role in controlling smoking, this study tried to investigate the prevalence of cigarette smoking among doctors and nurses and their awareness about the effects of smoking. METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted on all doctors (n = 150) and nurses (n = 400) of hospitals affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences (Kerman, Iran). Data was collected through a questionnaire with reliability of 0.8 and validity of 0.79. It consisted of two parts to assess demographic characteristics of the participants and their awareness about the side effects of smoking. Their awareness was ranked from poor to excellent based on the number of correct answers. Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests were then used to analyze the collected data. FINDINGS: Of 550 questionnaires, 524 were completed (51.3% by the nurses and 48.7% by the doctors. While 21.2% of all participants smoked cigarettes, 71.8% of doctors and 95.3% of nurses did not smoke. The levels of awareness among nurses and doctors were determined as poor and moderate, respectively. CONCLUSION: The higher prevalence of smoking among nurses confirms the significance of education. The level of awareness among the studied doctors and nurses was not desirable. Enhancing the awareness and attitude of medical staff will improve not only their own performance but also the behavioral pattern of the society.