The Smoking Rate Among Doctors and Its Various Implications

Seo, Hong Gwan

Abstract

The most common disease in Korea is smoking and the number of the sufferers is about twelve million. The prevalence of smoking among doctors may indicate the likelihood of success of population-based anti-tobacco campaigns. It has been established that the decline in the prevalence of smoking among physicians has preceded the decline in the general population according to the Kunz's two-phase model in smoking epidemic. There is also evidence that physicians who smoke are less likely to counsel patients about the hazards of smoking. For these three reasons it is important to understand the current smoking status among medical doctors. The smoking rate was reported to be 34.9% among Korean doctors in male and 2.3% in female in 2000. In the same period it has been reported to be 67.6% in male and 3% in female in the general population. According to Kunz, Korea is a mature country in terms of smoking epidemic. All the doctors should be well aware that there are effective and scientific ways of smoking cessation. But the proportion of doctors who have never been educated for smoking cessation was 97.9%. Undergraduate and continuous medical education for smoking cessation should be reinforced. The drop smoking rate among Korean medical doctors is mandatory.