Relations between attitude and practice of smoking and the training program regarding tobacco control among community medical staff members in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province

Abstract

To investigate the relations between training and both the attitude and practice on smoking control among community medical staff members in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Three representative districts including Xiacheng, Gongshu and Westlake were chosen from Hangzhou city. Questionnaire survey was applied to collect information from the related community medical staff members. The survey mainly contained three aspects: knowledge, attitude and practice regarding smoking control involved in the community medical activities. Availability and application of the resources on smoking cessation were also studied. Logistic regression analysis was applied to explore the factors associated with the smoking control training programs. Differences of rates between groups were assessed with chi-square statistics. Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to study the relationships among knowledge, attitude and practice related to smoking control programs, targeted to the community medical staff members. Eight hundred forty-six community medical workers were involved. Sixty-five percent of the community medical staff members had learned related knowledge on smoking control. Proportion of the community medical staff who had taken lessons on smoking control with 3-10 working years was 1.77 times more than the ones with experience less than two years (OR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.25-2.51). Eighty-eight point seven percent of the medical staff who had received smoking control training programs were identified with the consciousness that they should advise the patients to quit smoking, comparing to the proportion 81.60% (Z=-2.87, P=0.00) in the control group. In terms of the practice regarding smoking control, data showed that 21.62% of the medical staff who had received smoking control training programs would provide 'how to quit smoking' to more than 90% of the smoking patients, while the proportion in the control group was 10.65% (Z = -5.68, P = 0.00). The use of drugs, traditional Chinese medicine therapy and the smoking cessation hotline rate were all less than 30%. The training programs being used on smoking control seemed useful in improving the consciousness and practice towards the smoking control programs during their medical activities among the community medical staff members.