Exploring practices of tobacco consumption and preparedness towards tobacco cessation amongst primary health care physicians in a selected district of Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Background: There is limited published evidence about their preparedness and practices regarding tobacco cessation amongst them. Hence, a study was undertaken to assess knowledge, attitude, and practices in the above context amongst the doctors working in the government health set up in Maharashtra.Methods: A cross sectional study was undertaken in a randomly selected district of Maharashtra. Out of 112 primary health care doctors, 74 (66%) participated in the study. Strict confidentially was maintained during the process of data collection. The data was entered and analysed in the Microsoft Excel. The study was completed in October 2016- January 2017. All the required permissions including ethical clearance were obtained.Results: Nineteen (25.67%) primary health care physicians had self-reported tobacco use, of them 10 (52.64%) were present tobacco users and 9 (47.36%) were using tobacco in the past. Out of 74 participants, 16 (21.63%) reported tobacco use in the family members. Twelve (63.16%) tobacco users had thought of quitting tobacco and 9 (47.37%) have tried to quit tobacco. Majority (97.3%) of the participants asked for tobacco history while 65 (87.84%) doctors had assessed quantity of tobacco use. Only 5 (6.76%) participants have received training for tobacco cessation.Conclusions: Well trained manpower for tobacco cessation in the government health set up can serve as a change agent for creating tobacco free environment across the country due to their huge potential to reach the masses.