Relationship between Cigarette Smoking and Anxiety Level among Nurses

Abstract

Background: This study aims to determine whether cigarette smoking and anxiety degrees are related among nurses. Methods: A correlation design study was conducted at Baquba Teaching Hospital in Diyala Governorate, and the study period extended from September 10th, 2023, to January 28th, 2024. A nonprobability purposive sample was used to include 200 nurses working at Baquba Teaching Hospital, Iraq. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire from January 10th to February 7th, 2024. There were two components to the study instruments. Initially, the demographic sheet contained the individuals' sociodemographic data. The Taylor manifest anxiety scale is included in the second section. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 26. Results: Findings of the current study showed that 47.5% of nurses had a moderate level of anxiety, while 35.5% experienced a small level of anxiety, and 17.0% suffered from a severe level of anxiety regarding smoking cigarettes. The nonparametric correlation analysis (Spearman's rho) carried out to examine the relationship between cigarette smoking and anxiety levels among nurses yielded a significant correlation coefficient of 0.01 (p > 0.05). The findings revealed a strong and positive correlation between all aspects related to cigarette smoking and anxiety levels. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, it concluded that nurses reported moderate levels of anxiety, and it was displayed that there was a relationship between nurses' anxiety levels and cigarette smoking depending on their age groups and length of hospital employment. Recommendation: It is recommended that training and educational programs be implemented to cultivate a suitable health promotion culture among nurses, thereby enabling them to offer more effective support to patients who smoke.