Knowledge and perception about health risks of cigarette smoking among Iraqi smokers

Background: Smoking is a major public health problem, especially in Iraq. There is very little information had been documented regarding smoking risk factors and quit intention among Iraqi smokers. Objectives: The main objectives of this study are to determine smokers' knowledge and perception...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pharmacy & bioallied science 2016-04, Vol.8 (2), p.146-151
Main Authors: Dawood, Omar, Rashan, Mohammed, Hassali, Mohamed, Saleem, Fahad
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arabic language
Cardiovascular disease
Chronic illnesses
Cigarettes
Conflicts of interest
Data collection
Education
Evaluation
Health aspects
Health behavior
Health promotion
Health risk assessment
Health risks
knowledge
Methods
Mortality
Original
perception
Population
Questionnaires
quit intentions
Sample size
Smoking
Smoking cessation
Stroke
Teaching hospitals
Tobacco
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Summary:Background: Smoking is a major public health problem, especially in Iraq. There is very little information had been documented regarding smoking risk factors and quit intention among Iraqi smokers. Objectives: The main objectives of this study are to determine smokers' knowledge and perception about smoking health risks; and to determine smoking behavior and quitting intentions among Iraqi smokers; as well as to predict the factors that may associate with quit intentions. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the outpatient clinic in Tikrit Teaching Hospital, Tikrit City, Iraq. Adult smokers who are smoking cigarette everyday and able to communicate with the researcher were invited to participate in the study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 386 participants. Results: This study showed that smokers had low awareness about some risk effects of smoking such as lung cancer in nonsmokers (30.1%), impotence in male smokers (52.6%), premature ageing (64%), and stroke (66.3%). In addition, the high score of knowledge and perception was significantly associated with quitting intention. Conclusion: Smokers' knowledge and perception regarding smoking health effects were low, especially in terms of secondhand smokers. Many efforts needed from health policy-makers and health care professionals to disseminate information about the risks of smoking and health benefits of give up smoking.
ISSN:0975-7406
0976-4879
0975-7406
0976-4879
DOI:10.4103/0975-7406.171738