PATTERN OF SMOKING-HABITS OF THE EMPLOYEES IN A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL IN GREECE

Smoking habits differ in different professions, with social status and among populations. An effective anti-smoking campaign should be based on knowledge of the attitudes and characteristics of the target population. Our aim was to study the smoking habits and attitudes towards smoking of the employees of the University Hospital of Crete, prior to commencing an anti-smoking campaign. A questionnaire consisting of 38 questions, was distributed to 450 out of 500 Hospital employees and was correctly completed by 400 of them (88.7%). The mean age of responders was 29.8 +/- 6.8 years; 148 were males and 252 females. We found that 219 were smokers (55%): 89 males (58%) and 130 females (51.6%); 61 were ex-smokers (15.2%). All smokers smoked cigarettes, with a mean consumption of 22.3 +/- 12.9 cigarettes per day. The mean age at which the smoking habit began was 18.6 +/- 3.4 years. Parents of smokers and of non-smokers were smokers themselves in equal percentages (44% vs. 43.4%, respectively). 95.7% of the employees were aware that smoking was harmful to their health and 64% supported the idea of abandoning smoking in the hospital (46.2% of the smokers). A high percentage of responders (80.5%) wanted to stop smoking (79% had already tried once). A significant negative relationship between the age at which the smoking began and severity of smoking was found (r = -0.205, p < 0.001). We concluded that smoking is very common among hospital employees in Greece including doctors, nurses and medical students. However, the majority of them wish to stop.