Frequency of Cigarette Smoking and Factors That Affect Smoking Among Personnel Employed in a Training Hospital

Objective: This study was initiated in order to determine the smoking frequency and the attitude to smoking of employees at the Ankara Training and Research Hospital. Material and Method: From a total of 1.912 personnel, 1.628 (85.1%) participated in the study. A face-to-face survey consisting of 17 questions was conducted. The survey participants were 59.6% women and 40.4% men. Results: The data showed that 34.4% were still smoking, 12.8% had been smoking but had quit and 52.8% had never smoked. Among men the rate of smoking was 42.1% and among women it was 29.1%. It was observed that smoking was less prevalent among physicians (26.1%) and more among attendants (60.5%). The commencement age for smoking was between 16-20 years of age in 63%. When the reasons for smoking were investigated, the most frequent answer was pretension and curiosity in 52.1%. Out of the total number of smokers, 59.1% were thinking of quitting in the future. Among the methods used, giving up smoking abruptly was the most frequent method given in 62%. Conclusion: Health personnel, and particularly physicians, are in a position of being mentors in society in preventing the health hazards of smoking and in assisting giving up smoking. Thus, it is these people who should not smoke, stop if they are smoking and make society aware of this fact.