Smoking cessation advice: the self-reported attitudes and practice of primary health care physicians in a military community, central Saudi Arabia

Brief advice on smoking cessation from primary health care (PHC) physicians reduces smoking prevalence. However, few studies have investigated the provision of such advice by PHC physicians providing services to military communities. The aim of this study was to evaluate PHC physicians' attitudes toward and practice of delivering smoking cessation advice to smokers in a military community in central Saudi Arabia. A self-reported survey of PHC physicians was conducted in 2015 using a previously validated tool. The age, sex, educational level, job title, experience and previous smoking cessation training of each physician was recorded. Attitude (ten statements) and practice (six statements) were evaluated on a five-point Likert scale. Scoring system was applied and percentage mean scores (PMS) were calculated. Descriptive/statistical analyses were applied to identify factors that were significantly associated with a positive attitude and favorable practice (PMS >65 each). P-values