Smoking, smoking cessation and otorhinolaryngologists in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Otorhinolaryngologists are directly involved in the diagnosis and management of smoking related diseases, including upper airway malignancy. It is important that the specialists have skills to treat smoking and nicotine dependence. It is also known that there are smokers amongst doctors. AIM: To assess the opinions and practices of the otorhinolaryngologists of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, concerning smoking and nicotine dependence, and evaluation of smoking habits of the specialists. STUDY DESIGN: Crosssectional. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We randomly selected 600 otorhinolaryngologists of Sao Paulo State, Brazil. A survey was mailed to the specialists in March 2005. We gathered data received from March to May 2005. RESULTS: There were 209 respondents. Forty-seven specialists (46.4%) rated themselves as moderately familiar with the methods for treatment of nicotine dependence, and 60 (28.7%) as unsatisfactorily familiar. One hundred and forty-four respondents (68.9%) have never smoked, 50 (23.9%) were former-smokers, nine (4.3%) were occasional smokers and six (2.9%) were regular smokers. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of smoking in the sample of 209 otorhinolaryngologists of Sao Paulo State, Brazil, was 7.1%.