The influence of social environment on the smoking status of women employed in health care facilities

Abstract

Introduction: Bosnia and Herzegovina has a high prevalence of smoking among women, especially among health care professionals. The goal of this study is to investigate the influence of the social environment of women employed in health institutions in relation to the cigarettes smoking habits.
Methods: The study included 477 women employed in hospitals, outpatient and public health institutions in Sarajevo Canton Bosnia and Herzegovina. We used a modifi ed questionnaire assessing smoking habits of medical staff in European hospitals
Results: The results showed that 50% of women are smokers, with the highest incidence among nurses (58.1%) and administrative staff (55.6%). The social environment is characterized by a high incidence of colleagues (60.1%) and friends who are smokers (54.0%) at the workplace and in the family (p<0.005). One third of women (27.8%), mainly non-smokers, states that the work environment supports employees smoking (p=0.003).
Conclusion: Workplace and social environment support smoking as an acceptable cultural habit and is contributing to increasing rates of smoking among women.