ATTITUDES AND SMOKING BEHAVIOR OF HOSPITAL STAFF

The objective of this study was to determine the smoking behavior and attitude towards tobacco control among health care personnel in a third-line hospital. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study based on a self-questionnaire that involved 175 hospital staff during the period from January 1 to March 31, 2019. The prevalence of smoking was 20.3% (N=35) with an average of 14.97±8.6 cigarettes smoked per day. Smokers attempted to quit smoking in 67.7% of cases. Significant associations between smoking and age and gender were found. Staff who were unaware of the existence of smoking cessation counseling represented 62.9% of cases. Those who thought they should set a good example for patients represented 93.1% of the cases. However, 57% of smokers had ever smoked in front of a patient. Seventy-nine percent of staff agreed that time should be set aside to educate all patients about the harms of smoking (94.2%) and that it was important to train health care staff to help patients who would like to quit smoking (95.4%).