Family physicians knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding hookah

Objective: Tobacco use is one of the causes of preventable deaths. In recent years, the increasing prevalence of hookah has become an important public health problem. In this study, we aimed to observe the level of knowledge, behaviors and attitudes of family physicians about hookah use. Materials and Methods: A total of 164 volunteer family physicians were included in our study. Family physicians' sociodemographic characteristics, smoking and hookah use, tobacco cessation treatment training, level of knowledge about the health risks of hookah, and patient-physician relationship about hookah use were questioned. Results: Of the one hundred and sixty-four participants, 48.2 % were female and 51.8 % were male. Of the participants, 26.2 % smoked cigarettes and 14 % used hookah. 88 % of the participants stated that they preferred flavored hookahs. 62 % of family physicians stated that they had not received tobacco cessation training before. 62 % of the participants stated that hookah is more harmful than cigarettes. While 74.4 % of family physicians stated that they do not question their patients' hookah use, 80 % of the participants stated that they recommend their patients who use hookah to quit hookah. As a result of the questions asked to the participants, a knowledge score was calculated. The average knowledge score of the participants was 20 out of 24 points, the average knowledge score of male participants was 21, and the average knowledge score of female participants was 19. There was a positive correlation between the knowledge score of the participants and having a male gender, practicing medicine for 1-5 years and 5-10 years, while a negative correlation was observed with age (p<0.05). Conclusion: The reasons for the high knowledge score may be that the participants were physicians and the education they received in medical school was about health risks. The fact that physicians cannot easily access tobacco cessation treatment training and that hookah use is not perceived as a tobacco tool gradually increases tobacco addiction and hookah prevalence. Key words: hookah, family physician, smoking