Abstract
Objectives The objective of the present study was to assess shisha smoking among dental school students in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In addition, the role of suggested barriers and enabling factors in shisha smoking was also evaluated. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted at the College of Dental Medicine, University of Sharjah, between February and May 2016. The questions were adapted from previously published water pipe smoking studies. The collected data were analyzed to identify the relationship between shisha smoking and sociodemographic characteristics. Relevant questions were further categorized as enabling factors and barriers for shisha smoking. Results Three enabling questionnaire items related to social environment were significantly associated with an increased risk of being a current smoker. The most powerful is peer pressure (“friends smoke shisha”), which increased the odds ratio of shisha smoking 11.3 times, followed by smoker sibling with increase in odd ratio by 4.52 times, then the belief of social acceptance with increase in odd ratio by 4.31 times. Conclusion Shisha smoking is a serious problem among university students. Any intervention program in the university curricula should consider teaching students that shisha is no less risky than cigarettes and is addictive.
Highlights
Tobacco smoking is one of the ten leading health indicators proposed by the WHO Healthy People 2020 objectives [1]
Most of the students in the study sample were unmarried (92.7%), non-Emirati (64.6%), and had highly educated parents and high income (Table 1). e majority of participants (83.4%) mentioned that shisha was more harmful than cigarettes and that shisha smoking was addictive (76.7%), but only about one-third (37.6%) agreed that shisha was more addictive than cigarettes (Table 2)
Men with a current shisha smoking habit comprised 43.3% of the male sample, which was nearly the same percentage reported among medical students in central Saudi Arabia (44.1%) [22]. e prevalence rate was the highest in senior year students. is high prevalence could be attributed to a common belief that shisha smoking is less harmful than cigarette smoking [23]
Summary
Tobacco smoking is one of the ten leading health indicators proposed by the WHO Healthy People 2020 objectives [1]. Tobacco consumption trend has been found constant over the past 3 decades in the Eastern Mediterranean region, especially in Iran; water pipe smoking was increasing in females and young people and decreasing in older people [4]. Shisha is another method of smoking that is attracting new younger customers, especially in the Middle East region. More than 100 million people are reported to smoke shisha [5]. Nicotine intake per shisha session has been reported as the equivalent of more than one pack of cigarettes [7]
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