Temporal Variation of Smoking in Argentine Physicians. Comparison between the TAMARA I (2004) and II (2013) Studies

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Abstract

Background: For more than a decade, the Research Area of the Argentine Society of Cardiology has carried out surveys to observe the behavior of the medical population in relation to tobacco smoking.

Objective: The aim of this work was to compare the smoking status, training and patient counseling among physicians of the TAMARA I (2004) and TAMARA II (2013) studies.

Methods: The smoking status, patient counseling and medical training in anti-smoking techniques was compared between two observational cross-sectional studies performed in Argentine physicians in 2004 and 2013. The same structured survey was used. Smoker was defined as someone who regularly consumed one or more cigarettes/day for at least one year and who had smoked in the last twelve months. Two adjustment techniques were used: logistic regression analysis and propensity score.

Results: We analyzed the surveys of 9,530 physicians (TAMARA I, n=6,497 and TAMARA II, n=3,033). Overall, mean age was 41.5±11 years, 18.6% were cardiologists and 61% were male. Using the two adjustment methods, physicians surveyed in the TAMARA II study showed a lower chance of being active smokers, an increased probability of giving medical advice at all times, and a greater probability of having training in tobacco consumption compared with subjects assessed in the TAMARA I study. Between the two studies, a significant reduction in active smoking was observed in 39% of surveyed physicians (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.54-0.69, p=0.001).

Conclusion: After approximately one decade, this comparative analysis showed a decrease in the prevalence of active smoking in the medical population, in addition to a change in training and behavior towards patients with smoking habits.