Prevalence of smoking among dentists in the Federal District of Brasília, Brazil.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of smoking among dentists in the Federal District of Brasília, Brazil. METHODS A descriptive, cross-sectional survey, involving 446 dentists residing in the Federal District, was conducted in the second semester of 2004. Data regarding the smoking habit were obtained using a World Health Organization questionnaire that was translated and validated for use in Brazil by the Brazilian National Cancer Institute. Individuals who had smoked a minimum of one cigarette per day for at least 6 months prior to the study outset were classified as regular smokers. The distribution of frequencies was analyzed using descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations), as well as calculation of prevalence rates. The different variables were compared using the chi-square test, and values of p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS Of the dentists evaluated, 37% (42% of the males and 31.4% of the females) reported being smokers. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of smokers among dentists in the Federal District is above the national average for the adult population, which is approximately 32%. Although there was a predominance of males, the high number of female dentists who reported being smokers was a worrisome finding.