Doctors' Knowledge of Shisha and Attitudes Toward Clinical Counseling of Shisha Smokers: Nigerian Study

Abstract

Introduction: The knowledge and attitude of a doctor towards shisha and tobacco cessation counseling goes a long way in achieving a  successful quit for smokers. This study was conducted with the aim of assessing the knowledge of doctors in Nigeria, using Kebbi State as a case study, on shisha and also exploring their attitudes and willingness towards clinical tobacco cessation counseling of shisha smokers.
Methods: This study was a questionnaire-based survey of 78 doctors in Kebbi State, Nigeria. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 20
software.
Results: Only 63 (80.8%) of the respondents were aware of shisha. Among these 63 respondents that were aware of shisha, 4.8% of them were shisha smokers, 46.0% knew that shisha smoking can lead to periodontal disorder, 65.1% agreed that shisha smoking is a gateway to the use of other tobacco products, and 53.2% had had an encounter with a shisha smoker, of which only 63.6% of them (i.e. those 33 respondents who had the encounter) engaged themselves in a discussion on smoking cessation with the encountered shisha smokers. The majority of the surveyed doctors, irrespective of their age, gender, specialization, departmental affiliation, years of practice and shisha smoking history, were positively disposed towards clinical counseling of shisha smokers on tobacco cessation.
Discussion: This study shows that the surveyed doctors are positively disposed towards counseling their shisha-smoking patients on the importance of tobacco cessation; despite their inadequate knowledge on shisha.
Conclusion: Clinical counseling on tobacco cessation among shisha smokers should be encouraged in Nigeria.