Health professional's perception toward tobacco cessation: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Tobacco smoking is a major cause of preventable morbidity and mortality. The prevention and control of adverse health effects associated with tobacco consumption is an emerging issue of public health significance. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices among health professionals (HPs) toward tobacco cessation (TC). Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study, using pretested structured questionnaire was conducted among 422 medical and dental practitioners, to obtain information on the TC. The data were descriptively analyzed and Chi-square tests and multivariate analysis was applied using SPSS version 20. Results: Dental professionals had better knowledge about various preventive measures regarding TC as compared to medical professionals. Nonsmoker professionals advised patients to quit tobacco 10 times more than the smokers. Most of the HPs (91.9%) had a similar belief that TC counseling is not effective due to lack of formal training (P < 0.001). Conclusion: This study suggests a need and a desire for HPs to improve knowledge, attitudes, and practices in dealing with tobacco smoking cessation in their practice.

Keywords

• Attitude
• dentists
• knowledge
• practices