Impact of a Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Program at a Regional University Hospital and Predictive Variables of Being a Smoker among Hospital Workers

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2020-11, Vol.17 (22), p.8432
• Main Authors: Ranchal-Sánchez, Antonio, Romero-Rodríguez, Esperanza, Jurado-Castro, Jose Manuel, Ruiz-Gandara, África, Vaquero-Abellán, Manuel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Bivariate analysis; Cigarettes; Compliance; Evaluation; Gender differences; Health facilities; Hospitals; Humans; Medical personnel; Medical records; Mental health; Nurses; Occupational health; Personnel, Hospital; Population; Professionals; Public health; Retrospective Studies; Smokers; Smoking; Smoking cessation; Spain - epidemiology; Statistical analysis; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tobacco; Variables; Workers
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17228432

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a comprehensive anti-smoking health program conducted over twelve years at a regional university hospital in southern Spain. Prevalence of tobacco was compared retrospectively using data collected during occupational health assessments ( = 4291). Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were carried out to evaluate tobacco consumption differences according to age, sex, professional category, and workplace building. The results show a reduction in the active smoking rate among hospital staff evaluated (from 22.8% to 19.8%) with significant differences between non-health and health workers. Accumulated smoking consumption fell to 13.45 ± 14.60 packs/year with men presenting a higher consumption ( < 0.001). The predictive variables of tobacco use were sex (greater consumption among men, = 0.021), number of cigarettes (greater consumption among professionals who smoked less than 1 pack/day, < 0.001), and time smoking (greater use among professionals with more than 10 years smoking, < 0.001). There was a higher rate of staff smokers at the hospital building with a majority of mental health inpatients. This study provides a practical example of making the optimum use of digital medical records in the evaluation of a comprehensive anti-smoking health program.