Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Sungai Buloh Campus, Jalan Hospital, Sungai Buloh, Selangor Darul Ehsan 47000, Malaysia.
The Malaysian Armed Forces, Malaysia.
Mil Med. 2023 Nov 3;188(11-12):e3386-e3392. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usad268.
Tobacco kills half of its users. Despite this, there are over 1.1 billion smokers worldwide. Its harmful effects impair performance and readiness. Unfortunately, smoking has deeply ingrained in the military culture, as evidenced by the high prevalence. Hence, this study aims to identify the barriers to smoking cessation among this population.
A study involving two groups of current smokers (commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers) was conducted using the modified nominal group technique (mNGT), a qualitative research method of judgmental decision-making involving four phases: Generating ideas, recording, evaluation, and prioritization. The mNGT was used to solicit respondents' barriers to smoking cessation.
The mNGT yielded seven main barriers to smoking cessation: (1) Addiction, (2) difficulty in staying focused without the usage of cigarettes, (3) smoking has been incorporated into an individual's lifestyle, (4) environmental influence, (5) coping mechanism, (6) the long-interval period between orders and duties exacerbates the desire to smoke, and (7) smoking has evolved into a permanent habit. Although nicotine addiction and habit were ranked as the most important barriers, the military working environment and nature of the job exposed them physically and mentally to unfavorable situations, complicating the quitting attempt. Furthermore, the acceptance of smoking in military culture leads to a positive smoker identity, further hindering cessation.
The findings indicate that in addition to barriers affecting the general population, military-specific barriers related to the nature of the job exist, complicating cessation. Hence, any intervention program should address these barriers to achieve positive outcomes.
烟草会导致一半使用者死亡。尽管如此，全球仍有超过 11 亿烟民。吸烟的有害影响会降低工作表现和准备状态。不幸的是，吸烟已经深深扎根于军队文化中，其高患病率就证明了这一点。因此，本研究旨在确定该人群戒烟的障碍。
本研究使用改良名义群体技术（mNGT）对两组当前吸烟者（军官和士官）进行了研究，这是一种涉及四个阶段的判断决策的定性研究方法：想法生成、记录、评估和优先级排序。mNGT 用于征集受访者戒烟的障碍。
mNGT 产生了七个戒烟的主要障碍：（1）成瘾，（2）没有香烟难以集中注意力，（3）吸烟已经融入个人的生活方式，（4）环境影响，（5）应对机制，（6）订单和职责之间的长时间间隔加剧了吸烟的欲望，（7）吸烟已成为一种永久性习惯。尽管尼古丁成瘾和习惯被列为最重要的障碍，但军队的工作环境和工作性质使他们身心处于不利的环境中，使戒烟尝试变得复杂。此外，军队文化中对吸烟的接受导致了积极的吸烟者身份，进一步阻碍了戒烟。
研究结果表明，除了影响一般人群的障碍外，与工作性质相关的军队特定障碍也存在，使戒烟变得复杂。因此，任何干预计划都应解决这些障碍，以取得积极的结果。
