Efficicacy of an education program on smoking and its hazards: Evaluation of a conference

Abstract

AIMThe study aimed to find out knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of civil servants, religious and health officials attending to a conference regarding smoking hazards, and to determine the effects of an education program on smoking hazards.METHODSAmong civil servants, religious and health officials (n: 90) working in Kahramanmaras, those attended to a conference regarding smoking hazards were applied a questionnaire before and after the conference. The questionnaire comprised 20 questions regarding socio-demographic characteristics, tobacco products and related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. One point was given for each question to assess the level of knowledge about smoking hazards. Change of the level of the knowledge about the hazards of smoking was analyzed by comparing the data obtained before and after the conference.RESULTSThe age of the participants ranged between 18 and 58 years, with a mean age of 40.0±8.6 years. Out of 90 participants, 67 (74.4%) were male and 23 (25.6%) were female. Of these, 40 (44.4%) were cigarette smokers, 5 (5.6%) were Maras Powder users, while 2 (2.2%) participants were both smokers and Maras Powder users. Seven (53.8%) of nurses, 6 (54.5%) of midwives, 25 (73.5%) of civil servants, and 2 (6.2%) of imams were cigarette smokers. Smoking rate among women was 52.2%, while it was 41.8% in men. The average knowledge level score was 15.8±2.8 before education and 17.0±2.4 after education. After training, the level of knowledge increased significantly (p = 0.001).CONCLUSIONSLevel of knowledge of participants was significantly increased after the conferences. For an efficient fight against smoking, periodic education of some groups of people having influential effect on the society seems to be beneficial.