NURSES' KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE REGARDING SECONDHAND SMOKE,AN INTERVENTION STUDY

A, Al-Batanony; EA, Salim; AA, Dawood; E, Kasem

doi:10.21608/ejom.2008.662

NURSES' KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE REGARDING SECONDHAND SMOKE,AN INTERVENTION STUDY

Document Type : Study paper

Authors

¹ Public Health and Community Medicine Department,Faculty of Nursing; Menoufiya University

² Biochemistry Department; Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Nursing; Menoufiya University

³ Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Faculty of Nursing; Menoufiya University

10.21608/ejom.2008.662

Abstract

Background: Smoking is a growing public health problem in Egypt. In 1997, it was estimated that 43.6% of adult males and 4.8% of adult females smoked. Secondhand smoke, known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is a mixture of the sidestream smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. Non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) at work are at increased risk for adverse health effects.
Objectives: To assess nurses' knowledge, attitude and practice regarding secondhand smoke and to reassess them once more after an intervention health education setting. Participants and Methods: This study was conducted at Menoufiya university hospitals. Two hundred and seventeen nurses were selected as a study group. A predesigned self-administered questionnaire regarding KAP of nurses about SHS was filled by each participant. Urine samples were collected and analyzed for quantitative detection of cotinine level. Results: Nurses had general knowledge about SHS specially its related diseases; however, they had deficient attitude and poor practice towards it. The intervention health education setting, significantly, raised nurses' KAP about SHS and, also, significantly decreased the urinary cotinine level.
Conclusion: Nurses had some knowledge about the health effect of SHS however,their attitude and practice towards it, are still in need for more efforts to include smoking as a major problem in the nursing education curriculum.

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