Context- The WHO have advocated that medical doctors should not smoke, and that surveys on this issue should be conducted among medical professionals. Up to now, however, there has been no representative survey of smoking among medical doctors in Japan. Objective- To estimate the nationwide prevalence of smoking and attitudes towards smoking among Japanese medical doctors. Design- Questionnaires were mailed to 4,500 randomly selected medical doctors in Japan, and resent up to 3 times to subjects who had not returned the questionnaires. Subjects- Among those medical doctors selected, data from 3,771 were used.@Main outcome measures- Smoking status and history, and attitudes towards smoking were examined.@ Results- The prevalences of smoking among the doctors were 27.1% for men and 6.8% for women, being about half the age-adjusted prevalences among the general Japanese population. Smoking prevalence was higher among male Japanese doctors than among doctors in the USA and UK. It was recognized that nonsmoking doctors were more active in encouraging patients not to smoke than was the case for doctors who smoked; they also had stricter views on smoking by doctors and patients.@ Conclusions- Smoking cessation programs should be introduced among Japanese medical doctors to reduce the number of those who smoke. Also, a continuing education program should be instituted to instruct doctors about their role in society.
Learning Objectives: The participants will be able to know that smoking cessation programs should be introduced among Japanese medical doctors to reduce the number of those who smoke.
Keywords: Smoking, Physicians
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