Fifty-six percent of these individuals were persons who were employed but whose employers did not provide health insurance. The portion of the low-income population that is uninsured for part or all of a year is greater than in published reports. This study determined the prevalence of and major factors influencing smoking in our community. We used a questionnaire to determine smoking prevalence of males over age 12 attending a primary care clinic in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire included items about factors influencing the decision to start smoking, attempts to stop smoking, and awareness of the risks of smoking.
Smoking prevalence is high in our community in Saudi Arabia.
Most of the smokers know that smoking is dangerous and want to quit smoking but fail to stop for various reasons. Interventions are needed to decrease the prevalence of smoking in Saudi Arabia. We developed a medical student educational program to teach future primary care physicians about care of cancer patients. The Multidisciplinary Oncology Clerkship was designed for fourth-year medical students planning to enter primary care residencies. Learning during the clerkship was evaluated with knowledge tests before, immediately after, and 6 months after the clerkship.