Abstract:

Tobacco use is a preventable health problem in the world and in Turkey. Smoking is the most widely used type of tobacco. When we examine the population according to tobacco use rates, it is seen that tobacco addiction rates are almost the same regardless of the level of education. Especially when we look at healthcare professionals, we observe a high level of dependence on tobacco products. We think that the role of healthcare professionals in the fight against tobacco products is important. In this study, we aimed to determine the level of dependence on tobacco products of healthcare professionals in our university and to investigate the factors affecting this. Materials and methods: This study is prospective, cross-sectional and descriptive. It was performed between January and February 2019. The population of the study was composed of healthcare professionals (interns, nurses, specialist physicians, assistant physicians, Assoc. Prof Dr., Prof. Dr. in our hospital. Before starting the study, participants were informed about the questionnaire and they signed a consent form. A questionnaire consisting of 32 questions was applied to the participants. The questionnaire included questions related to sociodemographic data of healthcare professionals, their families and their use of tobacco products. The data were collected and analyzed by using Social Sciences Statistical Package (SPSS) 20 program. The data were evaluated with chi-square test. Results: 370 out of 724 healthcare professionals working in our hospital were included in the study. There were 130 interns, 300 nurses, 162 assistant doctors and 132 faculty members respectively. When they were asked whether they were smoking or not, 126 (34.05%) of the participants said yes, 43 (11.62%) said they quitted smoking, 201 (54.32%) said no. Conclusions: According to the results of our study; more comprehensive training on tobacco control should be provided in medical schools. Knowing or seeing the fact that the doctor or nurse is smoking affects the patient negatively.

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