Smoking in a Saudi community: Prevalance, influencing factors, and risk perception

Background and Objectives: Smoking is a major preventable cause of morbidit y and mortality all over the world, but little information is available abo ut the prevalence of smoking in Saudi Arabia. This study determined the pre valence of and major factors influencing smoking in our community. Methods: We used a questionnaire to determine smoking prevalence of males over age 12 attending a primary care clinic in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire inclu ded items about factors influencing the decision to start smoking, attempts to stop smoking, and awareness of the risks of smoking. Results: of 634 su bjects, 34.4% (218) were current smokers, 16.4% (104) were ex-smokers, and 49.2% (312) were nonsmokers. The most common (66%) reason for starting smok ing was friends' influence. About 75% had thought of stopping smoking, and 55% had actually attempted to stop. The most common (34%) reason reported f or failed attempts to stop smoking was lack of willpower. Awareness regardi ng the harmful effects of smoking was high (97.2%). More than 80% though th at a special smoking clinic would be helpful for quitting smoking. Conclusi ons: Smoking prevalence is high in our community in Saudi Arabia. Most of t he smokers know that smoking is dangerous and want to quit smoking but fail to stop for various reasons. Interventions are needed to decrease the prev alence of smoking in Saudi Arabia.