Analysis of predictors of smoking and alcohol abuse among healthcare workers considering specialty and gender differences

Results of foreign studies indicate a relatively high prevalence of smoking and alcohol consumption among healthcare workers, which can be explained by various socio-demographic and psycho-emotional characteristics, as well as stressinducing and psychological trauma factors related to their professional duties.

Aim. Analyse predictors of smoking and alcohol abuse among health care workers.

Materials and methods. The ASSIST screening test was used to assess the severity of clinically significant symptoms of substance abuse. The IES-R and K-10 questionnaires were used to evaluate psycho-emotional states.

Results. It was found that among men working in the “obstetrics and gynecology” specialty, a significant predictor of smoking was a high level of distress (p _≤ 0.05), and alcohol abuse was associated with the absence of a marital relationship (p _≤ 0.01). For women, alcohol abuse was related to increasing age (p _≤ 0.001), high income (p _≤ 0.01), living in a large urban area (p _≤ 0.05), and being married (p _≤ 0.01). Among men working in the “psychiatry and addiction medicine” specialty, alcohol abuse was associated with high income (p _≤ 0.01) and education levels (p _≤ 0.05). For women, there were associations between alcohol abuse and young age (p _≤ 0.01), high income (p _≤ 0.001) and education levels (p _≤ 0.01), distress (p _≤ 0.001), and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (p _≤ 0.05). For women, regardless of specialty, smoking and alcohol consumption were positively correlated (p _≤ 0.001).

Conclusion. The identified predictors of addictive behavior could become targets for targeted psychological and medical interventions.