Anti-Tobacco Counseling Practice and Physicians' Attitudes towards Tobacco Smoking

Background: Physicians play an important role in tobacco smoking (TS) cessation in patients. The formation of patients' attitudes and the implementation of prevention measures are usually influenced and affected by physicians smoking behavior and their knowledge and beliefs about the harmful effects of tobacco. The study aims to analyze physicians' attitudes towards TS and counseling patients on tobacoo prevention. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted from October to December 2020. Out of 337 physicians, 275 were randomly selected in five large tertiary hospitals (Tbilisi, Georgia). Each participant was emailed a pre-designed electronic questionnaire, which by 242 participants completed. Results: The prevalence rate of tobacco usage was 39.4% among males and 13.63% among females. The average rate of smokers in the country considerably exceeds the number of doctor smokers. The highest rate of smoking was revealed in surgeons (n=12; 24%). The age when smokers start TS is much lower in men (up to 16 years old) in comparison to women (from 16-20 years old). According to the majority of respondents (84%; n=204), doctors should not smoke tobacco due to their profession, as they are in charge of giving a good example to their patients. According to 74% of respondents, the advice of a doctor leading to the prevention of TS usage motivates patients to cease smoking. Attitudes of doctors towards patients-smokers are stipulated by their smoking status. Smoker doctors reveal a more loyal attitude to smoker patients compared to the doctors who do not smoke. Doctors-smokers mainly consider that tobacco prevention counseling does not result in a reduction of patients-smokers. Conclusions: Physicians have a high prevalence rate of TS among physicians, although they have enough information about the role of tobacco in the development of various diseases. To form anti-smoking efforts within the medical community, encouraging doctors to decrease tobacco dependence is required. It is advisable to increase physicians' education of physicians about the various methods of smoking cessation. Incorporating tobacco cessation education into medical university curricula will significantly assist physicians in routinely providing tobacco cessation assistance to patients.