Prevalence of tobacco use among healthcare workers in Italy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective

The objective of this work is to be able to assess the prevalence of tobacco use among health care workers, particularly among physicians and nurses, and whether there has been a decrease over time in the scope of work.

Study design

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods

Observational studies and systematic reviews that examined smoking prevalence in healthcare workers were included and classified. Data extraction and analysis was performed on all included studies that consider only hospital and healthcare services workers. The search strategy included three electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science) between March 01, 2023, and April 30, 2024.

Results

700 articles were found and once duplicates and studies not fulfilling the inclusion criteria were removed, 23 articles were examined. The average pooled prevalence calculated on the basis of tobacco use among physicians was 21.4 % in the period 1998–2021; if we break down the population by gender, the prevalence is 17.4 % for females and 21.8 % for males. If we consider high quality studies (NOS >7) the prevalence among physicians rises to 22.9 %, an increase from 2010 where the prevalence was 19.1 %. About nurses, we have an overall prevalence of 37.6 %, while considering only high-quality articles the prevalence was 37.2 %; the time frame (before and after 2010) did not impact smoking prevalence.

Conclusion

Smoking prevalence in healthcare workers is high, particularly among nurses. Companies should raise awareness and strengthen strategies to reduce the prevalence of this phenomenon among employees; moreover, workers should not only be aware of the risks, but also promote prevention in the population in order to prevent major tobacco-related diseases.