Tobacco use prevalence, knowledge and attitudes among Italian hospital healthcare professionals
Open Access
- 10 March 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in European Journal of Public Health
- Vol. 21 (1), 29-34
- https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckq017
Abstract
Background: Healthcare professionals play a key role in tobacco use prevention because they are considered as model by patients. This multicenter study was aimed to evaluate smoking prevalence, knowledge and attitudes towards tobacco among Italian hospital professionals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out using a questionnaire administered to healthcare professionals in seven Italian hospitals, to investigate personal and occupational data, knowledge, attitudes, job setting, clinical activities, smoking habits and pattern for current smokers. Potential predictors of current smoking habits were evaluated using multiple logistic regressions. Results: Sample population was comprised of 1082 health professionals (51.4% females; mean age was 37.3 years: 25.3% were nurses, 24.5% medical doctors, 17.1% students and 33.1% other healthcare workers). Smoking prevalence was 44%. Among responders, 67.7% considered healthcare professional as a model for citizens, 90.5% declared to see colleagues smoking cigarettes inside the hospital (47.4% in the dependents’ toilets, 33.4% in the department kitchens and 4.7% in the patient room). Multivariate analysis showed that healthcare professionals working in Naples had a higher risk to be smokers in comparison to Rome [odds ratio (OR) = 2.29; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.40–3.73]. Compared to medical doctors, post-graduate students (OR = 3.42; 95% CI: 1.81–6.44), nurses (OR = 2.48; 95% CI 1.51–4.08), nursing students (OR = 1.91; 95% CI 1.08–3.38) and auxiliary personnel (OR = 2.72; 95% CI 1.51–4.88), showed a higher likelihood of smoking. Conclusions: Among Italian hospital personnel there is a paradoxically large prevalence of smokers, higher than in the general population. Interventions aimed for the development of an adequate culture of health promotion, among these professionals, are urgently needed.This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- Is universal prevention against youths' substance misuse really universal? Gender-specific effects in the EU-Dap school-based prevention trialJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2009
- An international review of tobacco smoking in the medical profession: 1974–2004BMC Public Health, 2007
- Smoking behaviour, cessation attempts and the influence of parental smoking in older adult women: a cross-sectional analysis from ItalyPublic Health, 2005
- Smoking behavior among hospital staff still influences attitudes and counseling on smokingNicotine & Tobacco Research, 2004
- A Review of Substance Abuse Prevention Interventions for Young Adolescent GirlsThe Journal of Early Adolescence, 2001
- Work stress, smoking habits and competence in supporting clients to cease smoking—a survey among Finnish nursesPublic Health, 2000
- When doctors smokeTobacco Control, 1993
- Nurse-Assisted Counseling for Smokers in Primary CareAnnals of Internal Medicine, 1993
- Attitudes to smoking and smoking habits among hospital staff.Thorax, 1993
- Attributes of successful smoking cessation interventions in medical practice. A meta-analysis of 39 controlled trialsJAMA, 1988