Attitudes towards anti-smoking legislation and prevalence of tobacco consumption in Spanish primary healthcare personnel

• Published in: Tobacco prevention & cessation 2019-03, Vol.5 (March), p.9-9
• Main Authors: Iglesias Sanmartín, José Manuel, Furio Martinez, Ana, Clemente Jiménez, Lourdes, Barchilon Cohen, Vidal, Minué-Lorenzo, Cesar, Cascon Perez-Teijon, Sara, Ribera Osca, Joan Antoni, Cordoba Garcia, Rodrigo, Lozano Fernandez, Joan, Gallardo Domenech, Miguel Angel, Mendiguren Navascues, Maria Aranzazu, Salguero Chaves, Emilio, Rodriguez Ibañez, Maria Luz, Gueto Rubio, Victoria, Morena Rayo, Susana, Marioni Otero, Bruno, Gorreto Lopez, Lucia, Camarelles Guillem, Francisco, Martin Fuente, Fernando, Beni Ruiz, Diego, Hernández Rodríguez, Alicia Isabel, Gonzalez, Juan De Dios, Martin-Cantera, Carlos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Research Paper
• ISSN: 2459-3087; 2459-3087
• DOI: 10.18332/tpc/104434

Our aim was to ascertain how the anti-smoking legislation of 2005/2010 has affected the behavior of primary healthcare center (PHC) personnel (medical and nonmedical) with respect to their attitudes towards tobacco, its consumption and the legislative changes. We conducted a multi-center descriptive study of a randomized conglomerate sample of PHC personnel from each Autonomous Community in Spain. The questionnaire covered tobacco consumption, and knowledge/attitudes towards smoking and legislation. The statistical analysis used SPSS software. The sample consisted of 2040 PHC employees (1578 women, 77.4%). Never smokers, ex-smokers, and smokers represented 46.7%, 37.8%, and 15.5% of the sample, respectively. Tobacco prevalence amongst physicians and nurses was 12.3%. Following the introduction of the antismoking legislation, a decrease in consumption was observed. Most of the participants considered that tobacco consumption affected health, was an addictive illness, and passive smoking had an impact on the health of non-smokers. Whilst 91.6% agreed with the current legislation, only 25% felt that it encouraged cessation. Spanish primary healthcare professionals have a relatively low prevalence of smoking compared to the general population. It is necessary to implement more legislative measures to improve and maintain this outcome.