Abstract
Objectives: To assess the prevalence, causes and knowledge about hazards of
smoking of smoking among health care providers in tertiary care hospitals at
Rawalpindi.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at Armed Forces
Tertiary Care Hospitals/Institutes at Rawalpindi from April 2006 to September 2006.
A Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 300 subjects. An
informed consent was obtained from all the subjects. The data was analyzed using
SPSS version 11.0.
Results: Prevalence of smoking was 28%. High prevalence of smoking was among
male doctors (31%) and paramedical staff (44%). There was no smoker among female
doctors and only three smokers among 60 nurses. Sixty-eight per cent of smokers
started smoking between 20-30 years of age. Cause of smoking in 31% was peer
pressure while 25% started smoking because their father or brothers were smokers at
2
home. Twenty-four per cent of ex-smokers quitted smoking due to medical problems
while 30% left smoking on medical advice. Two hundred and seventy out of 300
(90%) knew the hazards of smoking.
Conclusion: There is high prevalence of smoking among health care providers.
Smoking cessation programs should be initiated for health care providers. (Rawal
Med J 2009;34:40-42)

Key words: Smoking, prevalence, tobacco, cigarettes, health care providers.