Waterpipe Use Prevalence Rate in Turkey: A Meta-analysis Study

Abstract

Abstract Background The aim of the study was to perform a meta-analysis of studies about the waterpipe use prevalence in Turkey. Methods PubMed, Web of Science, Turkey Citation Index, TR Index and the Cochrane Library databases were screened both in Turkish and English languages to identify relevant studies by using keywords ’waterpipe use’, ’prevalence’ and ’Turkey’. Inclusion criteria; original and cross-sectional design, studies that done during and after the year 2010, studies that given the number of participants and number of people using waterpipe and studies that done in Turkey. Open Meta Analyst demo program was used to calculate the prevalence rate of the study groups. Since the articles were p < 0.001 in the heterogeneity test, prevalence rate and 95% confidence intervals were calculated from the number of cases using the random effects model in group analysis. Results As a result of first literature review 26 articles were reached. Duplications were eliminated and summaries of the remaining articles were read as double-blind. Ten studies were included in the study that were suitable for inclusion criteria and quality evaluation. Seven of the studies were conducted only in university students, while 3 were community-based. As a result of the analysis, 2399 of 8845 university students used waterpipe (31.0%; 95% CI: 27.3-34.7), while 356 of the 33,129 individuals used waterpipe (1.2%; 95% CI: 0.04-2.0) in community-based studies. Conclusions As a result of the comprehensive literature research, it was found that the studies on waterpipe use were less in literature and prevalence was higher than expected in university students. Key messages In university students, the use of waterpipe was more common than the community, and intervention studies about the use of waterpipe were needed. Waterpipe use and surveillance studies in the communities are important for taking preventive measures and monitoring health outcomes.