Knowledge, Pattern and Health Impact of Smoking among Parents of School Boys in Al-Khobar City, Saudi Arabia | ||
| Journal of High Institute of Public Health | ||
| Article 6, Volume 29, Issue 4, October 1999, Pages 697-706 | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/jhiph.1999.325248 | ||
| Author | ||
| Kasim M. Al-Dawood* | ||
| Department of Family & Community, King Faisal University, Al-Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The objectives of this study was to identify the prevalence, knowledge and practice of smoking among parents of 6-15 years old school boy in Al-Khobar city, Saudi Arabia. The requried data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire which was filled by 2964 parents of 1482 school boys satisfied the selection criteria of the study. The results showed that the overall rate of smoking among parents of this sample was 18.2% [32% among fathers and 4% for mothers]. Combination of heavy smoking and for long duration was the prevailing trend of smoking. The overall sample knowledge about smoking was generally satisfactory but smoking parents were found to have significantly higher rates of knowledge about smoking than non-smokers. There was a significantly increased risk of smoking related diseases and symptoms among smoking parents. It could be concluded that parental smoking should be considered a major health problem in Al-Khobar city with dangerous impacts. Despite evidence of satisfactory knowledge about smoking among smokers, anti-smoking efforts should continue. However, it appears that the only sure way is to ban the import of this poison. This study may be considered as a baseline for further and larger studies in Saudi Arabia in the future. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Knowledge; Pattern; Health Impact; Smoking; Parents; School Boys; Al-Khobar City; Saudi Arabia | ||
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