Patterns of smoking behavior among physicians in Yerevan , Armenia Paul

Background: Physicians can play an important role in smoking prevention and control. This study will identify smoking prevalence among physicians in Yerevan, Armenia. It will also explore how the smoking behaviors of physicians, their perceived ability to influence patient smoking behavior, and their knowledge about health outcomes related to smoking influence their interaction with patients. Methods: A cross-sectional, self-administered, anonymous survey was conducted in July, 2004, among 12 healthcare facilities in Yerevan. Analyses are based on responses from 240 physicians, representing a 70% response rate. Results: The percentage of current smokers was significantly higher in men than women (48.5% vs. 12.8% regular and 6.8% vs. 4.5% occasional). Among current smokers, 52.7% of men compared with 13.0% of women had previously smoked in the presence of patients. Only 35.3% felt well prepared to assist patients to quit smoking. Physicians who smoke are less likely to ask their patients about their smoking behavior or believe their example is likely to influence their patients. Level of perceived preparedness to assist patients to quit smoking was positively associated with knowledge about known health risks associated with smoking. Conclusion: Smoking prevalence is high among physicians in the 12 healthcare facilities in Yerevan, and a large percentage of physician smoke in the presence of their patients. Physician smoking behavior and knowledge of smoking related health outcomes in Yerevan influences whether they counsel patients regarding smoking. Background The global burden of disease resulting from tobacco smoking is well understood [1,2]. Tobacco smoking prevention and cessation efforts, primarily in developed countries, have been effective at reducing heart disease, cancer, and other smoking-related illnesses. Prevention efforts in the United States have combined elements of health education, cessation techniques, and legislative activity to address the smoking problem [3]. Large decreases in smoking prevalence illustrate the success of these efforts. In 1965, the percentage of current smokers 18 years of age and older was 51.9 for men, 33.9 for women; 42.1 for whites, 45.8 for blacks; and 42.4 overall [4]. By 2002, corresponding percentages were 25.2 for men (51% decrease), 20.0 for women (41% decrease); Published: 23 May 2006 BMC Public Health 2006, 6:139 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-6-139 Received: 24 February 2006 Accepted: 23 May 2006 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/6/139 © 2006 Perrin et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.