Survey of Smoking Habits and Attitudes of Patients and Staff in Psychiatric Hospitals

Abstract

One hundred and six staff members and 150 patients of three psychiatric hospitals in Israel were administered a smoking habit and attitutes questionnaire. Upon analyzing the data, staff members and patients made up a very high percentage of smokers, 48.1 and 76%, respectively. The staff was not knowledgeable enough about the hazards of smoking. Nurses generously used cigarettes in order to appease the patients. Furthermore, the patients admitted being encouraged to smoke by the staff. According to these findings, a patient hospitalized in the psychiatric hospitals surveyed is significantly exposed to the pro-smoking atmosphere and the hazards of smoking.

Staff attitudes to smoking and the smoking ban

“…This probably reflects the variable roles and practical challenges faced by different professionals within a multidisciplinary setting. Similar observations were noted in previous studies where professionals differed in their views on benefits in staff smoking with service users (Mester et al, 1993;Tarbuck, 1996).…”

“…This study reports a smoking rate of 23.1% among mental healthcare staff and 46.4% of respondents who had smoked at least once, which is less than in previous studies (Gubbay 1992;Mester et al, 1993). There were more smokers among female staff (27%) than among male staff (19%), but the overall number of smokers decreased with increasing age group.…”

“…Many studies have reported higher rates of smoking among service users in psychiatric hospitals at 63-72% (Meltzer et al, 1996;Kelly & McCreadie, 1999;Coulthard et al, 2002;McCreadie, 2003). However, previous studies have reported variable rates of smoking among mental health professionals.…”

“…However, previous studies have reported variable rates of smoking among mental health professionals. A study in the UK found smoking prevalence rate among psychiatric nurses twice that found among other groups of nurses (Gubbay, 1992), whereas another survey in Israel reported a 48% smoking rate among staff members in mental health units (Mester et al, 1993). In a recent study by Stubbs et al (2004), all in-patient staff working in a large private psychiatric hospital in the UK were surveyed about their smoking habits and attitudes.…”

Survey of staff attitudes to smoking in a large psychiatric hospital

“…One study found that psychiatric nurses had a smoking prevalence rate twice that of other nurses (Gubbay, 1992). An Israeli study reported higher rates of smoking among psychiatric unit staff than in the general population (Mester et al, 1993). Less than 5% of British doctors now smoke, although separate figures for psychiatrists are not available.…”