PREVALENCE OF TOBACCO SMOKING AMONG MEDICAL STAFF IN YEKATERINBURG

Abstract

In this article the authors describe the results of sociological research on the problem of smoking among health professionals. The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of smoking among medical staff in Yekaterinburg. An anonymous questionnaire about smoking and health professionals' attitude to it was prepared. This study involved 1100 people. Smokers accounted for 28.5% of respondents. The highest percentage of smokers was among the lower staff (36.2%), the lowest one was among physicians (26.3%). Among doctors the age of initiation to smoking falls on a period of training in medical school. This points to the need of prevention of smoking among medical students. 75.6% of surveyed doctors recommend that patients stop smoking. But at the same time among experts there is a low level of awareness of quit smoking methods, which diminishes the quality of their recommendations. The findings show that smoking doctors in contrast to non smokers recommend their patients to stop smoking more rarely.