This page was last edited on September 5, 2023
The Doctors’ Survey was funded by a Foundation for a Smoke-Free World grant and conducted by Sermo to develop actionable insights for accelerating an end to smoking. Sermo, a private social media network for physicians in 150 countries, surveyed physicians to understand doctors’ perceptions of nicotine and reduced-risk products, and their interactions with adult patients on the issue of smoking, quitting and tobacco harm reduction tools.
In 2022, Sermo conducted online quantitative interviews with 15,335 physicians in 11 countries: China, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Africa, UK, and the US. The physicians surveyed are full time, licensed to practice, with a minimum of two years’ experience, who spend at least 50% of their time in direct patient care, seeing a minimum of 20 adult patients per month. They work in a broad range of specialties from family/general practice to internal medicine, cardiology, pulmonology, oncology, and psychiatry. The physicians surveyed were sourced from Sermo’s proprietary panel of 1.3 million healthcare professionals and its network of partner panels around the world. Invited by email to participate, the physicians were offered fair market honoraria for their participation in the survey.
Sermo established a Global Advisory Board and a National Advisory Board for the Doctors’ Survey that consisted of experts and advocates in smoking cessation in each of the 11 countries surveyed. The Advisory Boards helped develop the survey discussion guide and participated in the qualitative portion of the survey, providing insights on the findings. Sermo recruited the physicians based on their dedication to smoking cessation efforts as demonstrated by their public speaking engagements, publications and/or employment, reflected in publicly available hospital profiles and publication databases. The physicians on the Advisory Boards participated in individual interviews and were offered fair market honoraria for their engagement.
View Reports by Country
Global Findings
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Physicians Believe Nicotine Causes Lung Cancer
Participants were asked: “To what extent do you agree that nicotine by itself directly causes each of the smoking-related conditions below: Lung cancer, Bladder cancer, Head/neck/gastric cancers, Atherosclerosis, Birth defects, COPD.” The results include responses from “moderately agree” to “completely agree.”
Physicians Have Misperceptions About Nicotine
Beliefs about nicotine as a direct cause of specific smoking-related ailments vary widely across countries.
Physicians believe nicotine causes…
| 🇨🇳 CHN | 🇩🇪 DEU | 🇬🇧 GBR | 🇬🇷 GRC | 🇮🇩 IDN | 🇮🇳 IND | 🇮🇱 ISR | 🇮🇹 ITA | 🇯🇵 JPN | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇿🇦 ZAF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atherosclerosis | 92% | 83% | 65% | 74% | 89% | 87% | 71% | 76% | 89% | 75% | 57% |
| Lung Cancer | 91% | 77% | 60% | 65% | 97% | 88% | 69% | 67% | 88% | 67% | 82% |
| COPD | 91% | 78% | 59% | 64% | 92% | 86% | 66% | 69% | 88% | 66% | 81% |
| Birth Defects | 80% | 80% | 61% | 59% | 89% | 75% | 68% | 77% | 71% | 72% | 62% |
| Head/Neck/Gastric Cancers | 82% | 78% | 59% | 61% | 90% | 78% | 65% | 64% | 87% | 69% | 51% |
| Bladder Cancer | 78% | 74% | 56% | 63% | 87% | 71% | 69% | 69% | 85% | 69% | 42% |
Participants were asked: “To what extent do you agree that nicotine by itself directly causes each of the smoking-related conditions below: Lung cancer, Bladder cancer, Head/neck/gastric cancers, Atherosclerosis, Birth defects, COPD.” The results include responses from “moderately agree” to “completely agree.”
Physicians’ Smoking Cessation Discussions with Patients
In most countries, a large majority of physicians agree that helping patients quit smoking is a priority.
Participants were asked: “To what extent do you agree with the following statements about smoking? Helping patients to quit smoking is a priority for me.” The results include responses from “moderately agree” to “completely agree.”
Physicians’ Interest in Training on Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Harm Reduction
In nearly all 11 countries surveyed, a large majority of physicians are interested in training about smoking reduction/cessation.
Participants were asked: “To what extent are you interested in taking training on how to help your patients who smoke combustible tobacco products with reducing or quitting smoking?” The results include responses from “moderately interested” to “completely interested.”
Many tend to focus on general cessation rather than specific alternatives to smoking.
| 🇨🇳 CHN | 🇩🇪 DEU | 🇬🇧 GBR | 🇬🇷 GRC | 🇮🇩 IDN | 🇮🇳 IND | 🇮🇱 ISR | 🇮🇹 ITA | 🇯🇵 JPN | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇿🇦 ZAF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy | 41% | 64% | 71% | 52% | 43% | 66% | 44% | 35% | 50% | 82% | 55% |
| Social or family support | 69% | 52% | 38% | 42% | 60% | 86% | 58% | 40% | 30% | 54% | 49% |
| Prescription medication for smoking cessation | 36% | 37% | 55% | 42% | 19% | 60% | 68% | 37% | 41% | 81% | 66% |
| Referral to smoking cessation clinics | 55% | 31% | 80% | 60% | 21% | N/A | 69% | 38% | 49% | 40% | 19% |
| Psychological/Psychiatric counseling/therapy | 56% | 45% | 30% | 46% | 38% | 81% | 35% | 45% | 28% | 40% | 26% |
| Cold turkey (suddenly quitting with no other help) | 18% | 42% | 16% | 39% | 32% | 29% | 31% | 38% | 32% | 35% | 17% |
| Alternative therapy | 40% | 42% | 16% | 23% | 23% | 32% | 19% | 30% | 9% | 29% | 17% |
| Chewing/sucking/dipping forms of tobacco products | 26% | 20% | 32% | 3% | 10% | 44% | 21% | 22% | 13% | 23% | 29% |
| Electronic nicotine delivery system/e-cigarettes | 26% | 17% | 35% | 20% | 13% | 22% | 7% | 35% | N/A | 19% | 19% |
| Withdrawal App | 22% | 33% | 10% | 6% | 9% | 26% | 24% | 12% | 24% | 12% | 13% |
| Heated tobacco products | 20% | 13% | 8% | 29% | 9% | N/A | 5% | 27% | 11% | 7% | 4% |
Participants were asked: “Which of the following interventions or methods to aid your patients with smoking reduction/cessation do you typically recommend or prescribe to your patients who want to reduce or quit smoking?”
