Knowledge and Beliefs of E-Cigarettes Among Physicians in Poland.
Med Sci Monit
; 25: 6322-6330, 2019 Aug 23.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31439826
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND Electronic nicotine delivery systems, including electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are gaining popularity. The objectives of this study were to assess the knowledge and beliefs about e-cigarettes among physicians in Poland. MATERIAL AND METHODS A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among physicians attending mandatory courses delivered at the School of Public Health, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education (Warsaw, Poland). The questionnaire included 24 questions concerning beliefs and attitudes about e-cigarettes. RESULTS Data were obtained from 412 physicians (64.3% females; aged 31.9±5.7 years) with a response rate of 82.4%. Among participants, 99.8% were aware of e-cigarettes. The main sources of information about e-cigarettes were news stories (67.2%) or points of sale of e-cigarettes (67.6%). Approximately half of respondents (50.2%) declared moderate knowledge about e-cigarettes, and over three-quarters (78.1%) declared willingness to learn more about e-cigarettes. The majority (96.5%) of participants agreed with the statement that e-cigarette use is harmful to the user's health, and most (80.5%) agreed that exhaled e-cigarette aerosol is harmful to bystanders. The statement that e-cigarettes could be "gateway" to conventional smoking was supported by 87% of participants. Only 11.5% of physicians agreed that e-cigarettes should be recommended as a smoking cessation method. CONCLUSIONS Physicians in Poland perceive e-cigarettes as harmful and addictive. Physicians' knowledge about e-cigarettes is mostly based on non-scientific sources, which points out the urgent need to develop national smoking cessation guidelines regulating the issue of e-cigarettes based on scientific evidence.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Atitude do Pessoal de Saúde
/
Vaping
Tipo de estudo:
Qualitative_research
Limite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
País como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article