Pattern of smoking among parents of schoolboys.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to study the pattern, prevalence, knowledge and practice of smoking among parents of 6-15 years old schoolboys in Al-Khobar City, Saudi Arabia. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study. The methodology included the distribution of a self-administered questionnaire, which was filled out by 2964 parents of 1482 schoolboys who satisfied the selection criteria of the study. RESULTS The overall rate of smoking among parents of this sample was 18% (32% among fathers and 4% for mothers). A combination of heavy smoking and smoking for a long duration was the prevailing pattern of smoking. The overall sample knowledge about smoking was generally satisfactory, but smoking parents were found to have significantly higher rates of knowledge about smoking than non-smokers did. There was a significantly increased risk of smoking related diseases and symptoms among smoking parents. CONCLUSIONS Based on the results of this study, parental smoking should be considered a major health problem in Al-Khobar City with dangerous impacts. Despite evidence of satisfactory knowledge about smoking among smokers, anti-smoking efforts should continue. However, it appears that the only sure way is to ban the import of this poison. This study may be considered as a baseline for further and larger studies in Saudi Arabia in the future.