Widespread evidence has demonstrated the negative effects of tobacco smoking in patients with diabetes. Although many studies have explored the prevalence of tobacco smoking in the general population, data are lacking regarding its prevalence in a specific population with a chronic disease such as diabetes.
Objectives: This study aims to determine the prevalence of tobacco smoking among patients with diabetes in Hospital Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to study diabetic patients who attended the endocrine clinic at Hospital Pulau Pinang in Malaysia from March to August 2012. All the diabetic patients who attended the endocrine clinic during that period were asked about their smoking status, and their medical records were reviewed. A total of 1,118 patients with diabetes were reviewed to determine the prevalence of tobacco smoking in diabetic patients at the endocrine clinic of Hospital Pulau Pinang.
Results: The majority of the study population was male, with Malay and Chinese patients in almost equal proportions and a smaller proportion of Indian patients. Most of these patients had started smoking before they were diagnosed with diabetes. Among the 1,118 diabetic patients, only 108 patients smoked; therefore, the prevalence of tobacco smoking in our patients with diabetes was 9.66%.
Conclusions: A low prevalence of tobacco smoking was estimated in this study. This prevalence is close to the corresponding value in the general population in Malaysia.
Study site: Endocrine clinic, Hospital Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Objectives
Endocrinologists and other clinicians who provide care to diabetic patients have ideal teaching opportunities to connect and deliver tobacco cessation interventions in diabetes care. This study aimed to develop, validate and measure the reliability of a new tool that would be used to evaluate physicians’ attitudes and practices regarding tobacco cessation counselling in patients with diabetes, as well as barriers to deliver tobacco cessation counselling in their clinics.
Methods
This study was conducted from March till December 2012 in the endocrine clinic at Hospital Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. A standardised, 22-item, self-administered questionnaire was developed to determine (i) physicians’ attitudes and practices regarding tobacco cessation counselling in patients with diabetes, and (ii) barriers in delivering tobacco cessation counselling in their clinics. Face and content validity were assessed. Six pharmacists, whom were faculty members with experience and expertise in research and in the development of surveys, reviewed the questionnaire to assess its content validity.Reliability test was run along to check whether the new tool questions are correlated with one another adequatly or no.
Results
Reliability test for the tool was pretested on a sample of 25 physicians physicians who ran the endocrine clinic at Hospital Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Reliability analyses for the attitude domain and practice domain were 0.710 and 0.720, respectively.
Conclusions
The questionnaire was valid and reliable to be use for the evaluation of physician’s barriers, attitude and practice regarding tobacco cessation counselling in the diabetics clinics.