Abstract

Objective: To describe the existing knowledge among pre-intern medical graduates regarding the tobacco and alcohol prevention.

Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done among pre-intern medical graduates who were awaiting the medical-internship from August to November 2016. A web-based self-administered questionnaire was used. The questionnaire was developed with expert-guidance and was judgmentally-validated. The responses to selected questions were presented with the frequency and the percentage.

Results: A total of 721 pre-interns were included in the study. Of them 94.6% (n=682) were concerned on substance consumption of the patients and 96.4%(n=695) stated that it was necessary to include substance-use-history in clinical history taking. More than 95% (n=681) stated they have a role in ceasing substance-use among patients while 3.3% (n=24) thought that it was not their role. Of the participants, 82.8% (n=597) answered as being capable of identifying stages of substance-use while 15.7% (n=113) thought that they were not. Nearly 70% (n=506) answered that advising a patient once, to stop substance-use has no significant impact and 28.3% (n=204) thought that it has. More than 80% thought that there is a safe-limit of alcohol consumption (n=595) while only 16% (n=115) stated that a safe limit does not exist. More than half (52%, n=379) thought anxiety as the commonest psychiatric disorder which leads to consume alcohol. Nearly 41% (n=295) stated that nicotine-replacement therapy is available in government sector as an effective safe treatment option. Appearance of withdrawal symptoms (96.7%, n=697), continuous alcohol consumption by a cirrhotic patient (84.9%, n=612), neglecting alternative pleasures and recreational activities (93.8%, n=676), inability to control no of cigarettes smokes per day (89.9%, n=710) and consuming same amount of alcohol in every weekend (12.6%, n=91) were recognized as features of substance dependence by pre-interns.

Conclusion: There are inadequacies of the knowledge on selected aspects of tobacco and alcohol prevention among pre-intern medical graduates. A comprehensive, well-planned orientation using effective teaching methods on these aspects prior to the commencement of medical internship would be beneficial for the patient management.

Keywords: Tobacco and alcohol cessation; Competency building