Predictors of intention to quit smoking among hospital male personnel

Abstract

Smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death in the world and its disadvantages impose heavy financial burden on the health system. Among the behavioral models of health education, the most applicable one in smoking cessation is Transtheoretical Model (TTM). This study aimed to detect the predictors of smoking cessation among hospital male personnel. The participants were 200 current and former smokers Personnel working at four hospitals. The instruments included decisional balance scale, self-efficacy scale, processes of change scale (behavioral and experiential), and stages of change which were completed by self-report. Descriptive statistics analysis showed that 66.5% of participants were located in the earlier stages of change. Bivariate spearman correlations showed that self-efficacy, processes of change and decisional balance were significantly correlated with the stage of change. Besides, ordinal regression revealed that experiential processes of change, self-efficacy and behavioral processes were the strongest predictors for the change stages of smoke cessation. The current study revealed that the readiness to quit smoking is significantly predicted by the mechanisms of self-efficacy and the process of change such as environment reevaluation, stimulus control and counter conditioning, which can lead to positive progress in the change stages of smoke cessation. The findings of this study showed that using TTM for smoking cessation would be very effective in improving readiness to quit smoking among hospitals personnel.