Smoking habits of the teachers and their opinion about the new law

Abstract

Aim: Smoking is still one of the most important health problems of our country. The aim of our study was to identify the level of smoking habits of the teachers in the city of Bursa and find out their opinion about the law prohibiting smoking in closed areas.Material and Methods: A questionnaires containing 22 questions were distributed to all schools in Bursa. These questionnaires were answered by a total of 8291 teachers, composed of 3519 men (mean age 40.6 +/- 0.1) and 4772 women (mean age 34.9 +/- 0.1).Reults: Smoking ratio is 33.6% for male teachers and 25.4% for female teachers. The question "what do you think about the prohibition of smoking in closed areas in accordance with the law about Prevention and Control of Smoke Products Damage that just has came into force on 19 May 2008" was answered as a very necessary law by 75.8% and as an unnecessary law by 14.3% of the teachers.Conculation: As a result, the aspects of the smoker teachers were unfavorable compared to the non-smoker teachers. Consequently, we think that essential education and support should be given to our teachers, both to quit smoking and to being one of the foremost implementers of the law.