Background: Physicians constitute a considerable professional influential group; they may be most suited for tobacco use prevention and smoking cessation intervention among the growing tobacco using population.
Methods: We assessed tobacco cessation knowledge and practice done by 91 physicians in two blocks of Khurda district by using modified version of survey instrument developed by Francisco G. Soto Mas. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 16 statistical software was used for the analysis.
Results: The response rate was 75.83%, of which 77 (84.6%) were male. Study participants were in the age group 36-45 years. Nearly 13.2% of the respondents were active tobacco user. In tobacco - related practices, around 58 (62%) of participant physicians ask patients about tobacco use status always - frequently. More than (67) 70% of participant physicians advise their patients to quit tobacco but only 10-20% of study physicians assist them in referring to cessation programs. Seventy one (78%) of physicians felt providing counseling to patients using tobacco as their responsibility.
Conclusions: The results indicate that physicians participating in this study do not meet the level of intervention recommended by National Tobacco Control Program.