Cigarette smoking and smoking-attributable diseases among Estonian physicians: a cross-sectional study

Background Smoking is a risk factor for several diseases. Physicians are role models for their patients. Physicians who smoke underestimate the health risks of smoking and may be less likely to offer advice to help their patients to quit. The aim of this study was to: provide an overview of smoking behaviour among Estonian physicians; assess the relationship between smoking and ischaemic heart disease (IHD), chronic bronchitis (CB), and lung emphysema (LE); and estimate fractions of prevalences of the three diseases attributable to smoking.