Smoking patterns among primary health care attendees, Al-Qassim region, Saudi Arabia
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Abstract
Prevalence, sociodemographic patterns and medical co-morbidity of smoking among a cross-section of primary health care [PHC] clients in Saudi Arabia were examined. We used a 44-item semistructured questionnaire to collect data from 1752 patients at 25 randomly selected PHC centres. Percentage of smoking was 52.3%. Although 85% were adult smokers, 8.6% began smoking before age 12. Smokers gave overlapping reasons to smoke including peer pressure; non-smokers gave religious and health logics against smoking. Of all smokers, 92.8% wanted to learn cessation strategies, 11.8% were ignorant of hazards and 32.4% reported manifestations of nicotine withdrawal. Besides alcohol use [13.4%], 81.8% had co-morbid physical diseaseCitation
Al Haddad, N.S., Al Habeeb, T.A., Abdel Gadir, M.H., Al Ghamdy, Y.S. & Qureshi, N.A. (2003). Smoking patterns among primary health care attendees, Al-Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. EMHJ - Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 9 (5-6), 911-922, 2003 https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/119345