1. Smoking prevalence and attitude toward anti-smoking activities among Korean dentists.
- Author
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Park YD, Patton LL, Kim JH, and Kim HY
- Subjects
- Adult, Chi-Square Distribution, Dentists statistics & numerical data, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Prevalence, Republic of Korea epidemiology, Smoking psychology, Surveys and Questionnaires, Attitude of Health Personnel, Dentists psychology, Smoking epidemiology, Smoking Cessation psychology
- Abstract
Aims: To investigate the smoking habits and attitudes toward anti-smoking activities of Korean dentists according to their smoking status., Methods: A questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 2500 currently active Korean dentists in 2008. After 20% of the 1680 returned surveys (response rate 67.2%) were excluded due to missing data, 1443 surveys were analysed., Results: Among the 1443 respondents, most were male (81.8%) and age 40-49 was the most prevalent age group (41.6%). Approximately half of participating dentists were never-smokers, 24.6% were current smokers, and 29% were ex-smokers. Women (95.8%) were significantly more likely to have never smoked than men (35.4%). Prevalence of cigarette smoking of Korean male and female dentists was much lower than that of male and female Korean adults, respectively. Ex-smokers were significantly more likely to show a positive attitude about anti-smoking activities, compared to current smokers (p < .0001)., Conclusions: A majority of respondents agreed dentists should encourage their patients to stop smoking. Further effort is needed to encourage smoking cessation among male Korean dentists who smoke so they benefit from a healthier lifestyle and will subsequently be more likely to provide recommendations for smoking prevention and cessation for their patients.
- Published
- 2010