A1160 Self-estimated health and practice related to smoking among employees of health institutions in Serbia

Monday, March 19, 2012: 15:35
Coba (Cancun Center)

Srmena Krstev, Developmetn of Occupational Health, Serbian Institute Of Occupational Health, Belgrade, Serbia
Jelena Marinkovic, Institute of Medical Statistics and Informatics, School of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia
Snezana Simic, Institute of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia
Ana Jovicevic, Dept. of Organization, Planning, Evaluation and Informatics, Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
Ljiljana Markovic-denic, Institute of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia
Handouts
  • Mexico Srmena Krstev(1).pdf (354.9 kB)
    • Introduction
    Smoking substantially damages health and reduces work ability. Having in mind high smoking prevalence in Serbia (34% in adult population; men 38%; women 30%) and leading role of health professionals in prevention, we wanted to assess the smoking prevalence and practice and self-estimated health in all employees in health institutions (HIs).

    Methods
    In this nationwide study, 3 670 employees (physicians, nurses, other health professionals, technical staff and maintenance) from 4 types of institutions (primary healthcare centers, university and general hospitals, and institutes of public health) were included; response rate was79.6%. Predominantly, study subjects were women 74.5%; the mean age was 42.8. Data were collected using self-administered structured questionnaire.

    Results
    Overall smoking prevalence in employees was 39.9% (95% CI 38.3-41.6); among men 38.5% and among women 40.0%, being the lowest among physicians (29.1%), followed by nurses (41.7%), other health professionals 42.8%, technical staff (43.1%), and maintenance (45.2%). More than a half of all employees stated that smoking presented a problem at their workplaces (56.0%). On the scale from 1 to 5, non-smokers self-estimated their health as best (3.83), followed by smokers (3.73) and ex-smokers (3.71) (p=0.001). Dose-response relationship existed between amount of cigarettes smoked daily and self-estimated health, with the highest risk for those who smoke 20+ cigarettes per day (OR=1.81; 95% CI 0.97-3.31). Similar percentage of smokers and non-smokers reported sick leave in the previous year (16% vs. 18%, respectively); ex-smokers significantly more often (21%) (p=0.03)

    Discussion
    Smoking among employees in HI is high, higher than in general population. Health was estimated the worst among former smokers, who were more often on sick-leave as well. We can conclude that the main reason for quitting smoking is still actual health problems, not awareness of smoking health hazards. These can substantially reduce the preventive capacities of health professionals regarding counseling on healthy life styles.

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