Objective To examine the awareness of tobacco control-related knowledge among physicians in Yunnan province and to provide references for developing tobacco control interventions in the occupational population.

Methods We carried out a questionnaire survey among 1 103 physicians recruited with stratified multistage random sampling in 84 hospitals in 10 prefectures or municipalities of Yunnan province from October 2012 to January 2013.

Results Of the participants, only 1.09% reported the awareness of all 8 domains of tobacco control-related knowledge; the rate of awareness for harmful effect of passive smoking on health was the highest (92.38%) and that for nicotine being not the chemical substance related to the most of cancers was the lowest (8.61%). Among the participants, the overall awareness rate for 8 tobacco smoking-related diseases was 63.10% and the awareness rate for each of the 8 diseases were 90.66% for stroke, 78.42% for osteoporosis, 99.91% for lung cancer, 97.55% for heart attack, 90.21% for male sexual dysfunction, 87.22% for tuberculosis, 87.76% for acute necrotic gums or canker, and 98.64% for emphysema; while, the overall awareness rate for 6 second-hand smoke-related diseases was 79.96% and the awareness rate for each of the 6 diseases were 84.22% for sudden infant death, 99.55% for adult lung cancer, 95.83% for adult heart disease, 99.55% for bronchitis, 95.29% for childhood lung disease, and 98.10% for asthma, respectively.

Conclusion The awareness of tobacco control-related knowledge is at a relatively low level among physicians in Yunnan province and education on tobacco control should be promoted in the population.