Knowledge of female doctors about smoking risks and their attitude toward cessation in antenatal clinics - perspective from tertiary care hospitals in Karachi.

OBJECTIVE To assess the knowledge and attitude of doctors with regard to smoking risks and cessation, and to identify factors associated with self- reported assessment of smoking. METHODS This cross-sectional survey was performed in 5 hospitals of Karachi from February to April 2014, and comprised doctors providing antenatal care. Data was collected using a questionnaire. SPSS 21 was used for data analysis. RESULTS Of the 164 respondents,150(91.5%) considered the assessment of smoking an integral part of their medical responsibilities, but only 53(32.4%) reported that they asked regarding smoking habit in 100% of patients and 77(47.3%) inquired about passive smoking. The mean knowledge score for risks and cessation was 2.57±0.278 and 2.12±0.457, respectively. A few misconceptions were also found, such as 94(57.3%) doctors were against the use of nicotine replacement therapy in pregnant females and 114(69.4%) falsely believed that smoking was associated with pre-eclampsia. Factors independently associated with good baseline knowledge were: formal training (p=0.01) and hospital's smoke-free policy (p=0.004). Doctors with formal training more frequently assessed smoking habit of their patients and were more confident while counselling patients for smoking cessation (p=0.05). CONCLUSIONS Basic misconceptions showed inadequate knowledge among doctors working in antenatal clinics.