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Knowledge and Perceptions about Nicotine, Nicotine Replacement Therapies and Electronic Cigarettes among Healthcare Professionals in Greece

Author

Listed:
  • Anastasia Moysidou

    (National School of Public Health, Alexandras Av. 196, Athens 11521, Greece
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Konstantinos E. Farsalinos

    (Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, Sygrou 356, Kallithea 17674, Greece
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Vassilis Voudris

    (Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, Sygrou 356, Kallithea 17674, Greece)

  • Kyriakoula Merakou

    (National School of Public Health, Alexandras Av. 196, Athens 11521, Greece)

  • Kallirrhoe Kourea

    (National School of Public Health, Alexandras Av. 196, Athens 11521, Greece)

  • Anastasia Barbouni

    (National School of Public Health, Alexandras Av. 196, Athens 11521, Greece)

Abstract

Introduction . The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and perceptions of Greek healthcare professionals about nicotine, nicotine replacement therapies and electronic cigarettes. Methods . An online survey was performed, in which physicians and nurses working in private and public healthcare sectors in Athens-Greece were asked to participate through email invitations. A knowledge score was calculated by scoring the correct answers to specific questions with 1 point. Results . A total of 262 healthcare professionals were included to the analysis. Most had daily contact with smokers in their working environment. About half of them considered that nicotine has an extremely or very important contribution to smoking-related disease. More than 30% considered nicotine replacement therapies equally or more addictive than smoking, 76.7% overestimated their smoking cessation efficacy and only 21.0% would recommend them as long-term smoking substitutes. For electronic cigarettes, 45.0% considered them equally or more addictive than smoking and 24.4% equally or more harmful than tobacco cigarettes. Additionally, 35.5% thought they involve combustion while the majority responded that nicotine in electronic cigarettes is synthetically produced. Only 14.5% knew about the pending European regulation, but 33.2% have recommended them to smokers in the past. Still, more than 40% would not recommend electronic cigarettes to smokers unwilling or unable to quit smoking with currently approved medications. Cardiologists and respiratory physicians, who are responsible for smoking cessation therapy in Greece, were even more reluctant to recommend electronic cigarettes to this subpopulation of smokers compared to all other participants. The knowledge score of the whole study sample was 7.7 (SD: 2.4) out of a maximum score of 16. Higher score was associated with specific physician specialties. Conclusions . Greek healthcare professionals appear to overestimate the adverse effects of nicotine, and many would not recommend any nicotine-containing product as a long-term smoking substitute. Additionally, they have poor knowledge about the function and characteristics of electronic cigarettes.

Suggested Citation

  • Anastasia Moysidou & Konstantinos E. Farsalinos & Vassilis Voudris & Kyriakoula Merakou & Kallirrhoe Kourea & Anastasia Barbouni, 2016. "Knowledge and Perceptions about Nicotine, Nicotine Replacement Therapies and Electronic Cigarettes among Healthcare Professionals in Greece," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-25, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:5:p:514-:d:70534
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Pietro Ferrara & Saran Shantikumar & Vítor Cabral Veríssimo & Rafael Ruiz-Montero & Cristina Masuet-Aumatell & Josep Maria Ramon-Torrell & the EuroNet MRPH Working Group on Electronic Cigarettes and T, 2019. "Knowledge about E-Cigarettes and Tobacco Harm Reduction among Public Health Residents in Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-13, June.
    3. Michelle T. Bover Manderski & Michael B. Steinberg & Olivia A. Wackowski & Binu Singh & William J. Young & Cristine D. Delnevo, 2021. "Persistent Misperceptions about Nicotine among US Physicians: Results from a Randomized Survey Experiment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-8, July.
    4. Yitian Feng & Fan Wang & Abu S. Abdullah & Xiaoyan Wang & Jing Wang & Pinpin Zheng, 2019. "Beliefs, Attitudes, and Confidence to Deliver Electronic Cigarette Counseling among 1023 Chinese Physicians in 2018," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-11, August.
    5. Ratika Sharma & Britta Wigginton & Carla Meurk & Pauline Ford & Coral E. Gartner, 2016. "Motivations and Limitations Associated with Vaping among People with Mental Illness: A Qualitative Analysis of Reddit Discussions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.

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