Knowledge, attitude, and behaviors of health professionals towards smoking cessation in primary healthcare settings

: This study aimed to assess the behaviors of multiple health professionals in primary healthcare settings in Jordan towards smoking cessation counseling and to determine the barriers to effective smoking cessation behaviors. A survey of 456 health professionals in primary healthcare settings was conducted. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect the data. About half of health professionals reported that they usually ask patients about smoking status and advise them to stop smoking (51.4% and 50.5%, respectively). Only 23.7% reported assessing the willingness of the patients to quit smoking and 17.9% reported discussing counseling options with smokers. Considerably fewer percentages of health professionals reported preparing their patients for withdrawal symptoms (6.0%), discussing pharmacotherapies (3.8%), and prescribing nicotine patches (6.4%). Key barriers to smoking cessation counseling, as reported by health professionals, included: insufficient resources and organizational support, limited coverage of cessation interventions, and lack of motivation to quit. Smoking cessation counseling was not routinely implemented by Jordanian health professionals. Barriers to effective delivery of smoking cessation counseling need to be integrated within relevant strategies aiming at enhancing the frequency and quality of health professionals' engagement in smoking cessation.