Abstract
Background: Secondhand Smoke (SHS) exposure is a leading cause of childhood illness and premature death. Pediatricians play an important role in helping parents to quit smoking and reducing children’s SHS exposure. This study examined Chinese pediatricians’ attitudes and practices regarding children’s exposure to SHS and clinical efforts against SHS exposure. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of pediatricians was conducted in thirteen conveniently selected hospitals in southern China, during September to December 2013. Five hundred and four pediatricians completed self-administered questionnaires with a response rate of 92%. χ2 tests were used to compare categorical variables differences between smokers and non-smokers and other categorical variables. Results: Pediatricians thought that the key barriers to encouraging parents to quit smoking were: lack of professional training (94%), lack of time (84%), resistance to discussions about smoking (77%). 94% of the pediatricians agreed that smoking in enclosed public places should be prohibited and more than 70% agreed that smoking should not be allowed in any indoor places and in cars. Most of the pediatricians thought that their current knowledge on helping people to quit smoking and SHS exposure reduction counseling was insufficient. Conclusions: Many Chinese pediatricians did not have adequate knowledge about smoking and SHS, and many lacked confidence about giving cessation or SHS exposure reduction counseling to smoking parents. Lack of professional training and time were the most important barriers to help parents quit smoking among the Chinese pediatricians. Intensified efforts are called for to provide the necessary professional training and increase pediatricians’ participation in the training.
Highlights
The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the World is facing, killing approximately 6 million people each year
64% were female with 74% being between the ages of 20 and 40, and 75% were resident and attending physicians, 77% of the participants had received 5 years of education in medical school and 17% smoked at the time of the survey. 81% of the samples hadn’t received formal training in smoking cessation, and 64% of all pediatricians hadn’t read China’s smoking cessation guidelines, with 21% having never heard about them
Three hundred and fifty nine participants (71%) hadn’t read any international smoking cessation guidelines, and 22% had never heard about them (Table 1)
Summary
The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the World is facing, killing approximately 6 million people each year. More than 5 million of these deaths are as a result of direct tobacco use, while more than 600,000 are attributable to Secondhand Smoke (SHS) exposure [1]. 80% of the deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and the death toll could rise to more than 8 million per year by 2030 if the current trend of increasing global tobacco use remains unaddressed [1,2,3]. A middle-income country, is the World’s largest producer and consumer of tobacco, with 350 million smokers [4], and has almost 740 million non-smokers passively exposed to SHS, including 180 million children under 15 years old [5,6]. Secondhand Smoke (SHS) exposure is a leading cause of childhood illness and premature death. Pediatricians play an important role in helping parents to quit smoking and reducing children’s SHS exposure. Results: Pediatricians thought that the key barriers to encouraging parents to quit smoking were: lack of professional training (94%), lack of time (84%), resistance to discussions about smoking (77%). 94% of the pediatricians agreed that smoking in enclosed public places should be prohibited and more than 70%
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