Research Article KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE RELATED TO TOBACCO USE AND ITS CESSATION AMONG YOUNG MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS Shalini Singh, Suman Kumar Sinha, Rashmita Saha, Mukesh Jha, Dinesh Kumar Kataria Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2014, 30 (1-2), 35-42 ©2014 Indian Association for Social Psychiatry 35 INTRODUCTION It is a well known fact that smoking is injurious to health. As per the World Health Organization (WHO) it is the single largest preventable cause of mortality and premature death worldwide. WHO estimates that if the current trend continues, the annual death toll due to smoking will cross over 8 million by the year 2030 (WHO, 2011) .Tobacco use has been identified as one of the primary modifiable lifestyle risks for cancer, heart disease, and stroke (Stein & Colditz , 2004; Cooper et al., 2004). The 1950s path-breaking studies by Doll and Hill (1950, 1952, 1956) demonstrating the adverse effects of smoking have been replicated time and again. For example, the relationship between smoking and lung cancer was found to be one of the strongest in the history of cancer epidemiology, remarkably significant and remarkably conserved between diverse populations. The consumption of tobacco is common practice in India. In India, tobacco consumption is responsible for half of all the cancers in men and a quarter of all cancers in women, (WHO 2012) in addition to being a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. (Gupta et al., 1997; Padmavati, 2002). India also has one of the highest rates of oral cancer in the world, partly attributed to high prevalence of tobacco chewing (Vora et al., 1997; Franceschi et al., 2000; Moore et al., 2000; Dikshit & Kanhere , 2000) . Chewing tobacco and smoking are one of the common modes of use with nearly 30% of the population 15 years or older having smoked or chewed tobacco (Rani et al., 2003). Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS, 2010)- India, estimated that more than one-third of adults (35%) in the country use tobacco, out of which 21% use smokeless tobacco (ST), 9% smoke and 5% smoke as well as use ST. The prevalence of overall tobacco use among men was 47.9% and among women was 20.2%. More than 75% of tobacco users are daily users of Background: The right attitude, knowledge and practices of medical professionals with respect to tobacco use and its prevention forms an important component in tobacco control activity. The aim of the study was to assess the tobacco use among young medical professionals in Delhi, their knowledge about harmful effects of tobacco and their proficiency and practice in dealing with tobacco users. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out using an anonymous self- administered questionnaire based upon Global Health Professional Student Survey instrument in medical professionals below 33 years of age in Delhi. Results: The overall response rate was 95%. The sample comprised 215 medical professionals ( 54% females; mean age was 23.2 years: 52% were medical students, 48% young medical doctors). Tobacco use prevalence was 10.7% among doctors and 15.2% among students. All tobacco users were smokers. Among responders, 83.7% considered medical professionals as a role model for their patients (tobacco users 68.75% vs non –tobacco user 86.1%), 79% reported not having any formal training in tobacco cessation and 84.65% did not feel themselves to be proficient in delivering tobacco cessation services. Even though 94.8% do claim to provide evidence based tobacco cessation services. Conclusions: The prevalence of tobacco use among young medical professionals is less than that observed in the general population. The study points towards the requirement of formal training of medical professionals in tobacco cessation practices to make them more proficient. The training in tobacco cessation should be included and made mandatory in the medical curriculum to improve tobacco cessation services across the country. Key Words: Tobacco, Doctors, Medical Students, Knowledge, Attitude Abstract