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. 2017 Jul 10;18(1):1.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-4524-0.

Waterpipe and cigarette tobacco smoking among Palestinian university students: a cross-sectional study

Marina Tucktuck  1 , Rula Ghandour  2 , Niveen M E Abu-Rmeileh  2
Affiliations

Waterpipe and cigarette tobacco smoking among Palestinian university students: a cross-sectional study

Marina Tucktuck et al. BMC Public Health. .

Erratum in

  • Erratum to: BMC Public Health, Vol. 18.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] BMC Public Health. 2017 Sep 22;17(1):736. doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-4709-6. BMC Public Health. 2017. PMID: 28938882 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

Background: During the last two decades, waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS), also known as hookah, witnessed a global increase in use, especially among youth. Little information is known about the burden of WTS among Palestinian youth. A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of WTS and cigarette smoking and explore the associated factors among a sample of Palestinian university students.

Methods: 1891 students, from five Palestinian universities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, completed a self-administered, web-based survey in 2014-2015. The questionnaire, which was based on the Global Adults Tobacco Survey (GATS), had questions on WTS and cigarette smoking patterns and socio-demographic and university-related characteristics. Binary logistic regression analyses were computed to investigate associated factors with WTS and cigarette smoking.

Results: 50.9% of the sample was women. The mean age was 20.1 ± 2.0. Overall, 30.0% of participants were current tobacco smokers and 33.4% reported ever smoking tobacco through a waterpipe. The prevalence of current WTS (24.4%) surpassed the prevalence of current cigarette smoking (18.0%), with a significantly higher prevalence among men compared to women. The gender gap for WTS (36.4% vs. 12.9%) was smaller than that for cigarette smoking (32.8% vs. 3.6%). Binary logistic regression models for the total sample (men and women) revealed that men were more likely to be current waterpipe and cigarette tobacco smokers compared to women (AOR = 4.20, 95% CI = 3.22-5.48, and AOR = 10.91, 95% CI = 7.25-16.42, respectively). Geographic area of residence, faculty of study and self-reported academic achievement were also associated with the likelihood of being current waterpipe and cigarette tobacco smokers.

Conclusion: A high prevalence of WTS was reported among our study sample, and it surpassed the prevalence of cigarette smoking. Interventions to curb the practice of tobacco smoking among Palestinian youth should be tailored differently to WTS and cigarette smoking, be gender-sensitive and specific and target the regional variation in the smoking behavior.

Keywords: Cigarette smoking; Gender; Occupied Palestinian territory; Public health; University students; Waterpipe tobacco smoking; Youth.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethics approval statement: In accordance with the University’s regulations concerning the Ethics of Scientific Research, I hereby confirm that the research project was reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Birzeit University. The date of approval is 18.12.2014.

Consent to participate: An electronic consent to participate question was included in the questionnaire.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The standardized prevalence of current waterpipe tobacco smoking, stratified by gender, by university attended (n = 1891)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The standardized prevalence of current cigarette smoking, stratified by gender, by university attended (n = 1891)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The standardized prevalence of current waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) and cigarette smoking (CS), by university attended (n = 1891)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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