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. 2018 May 30;13(5):e0198119.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198119. eCollection 2018.

Patterns of tobacco use in the United Arab Emirates Healthy Future (UAEHFS) pilot study

Mohammed Al-Houqani  1 , Andrea Leinberger-Jabari  2 , Abdullah Al Naeemi  3 , Abdullah Al Junaibi  3 , Eiman Al Zaabi  4 , Naima Oumeziane  4 , Marina Kazim  4 , Fatima Al Maskari  1 , Ayesha Al Dhaheri  1 , Leila Abdel Wareth  5 , Wael Al Mahmeed  6 , Habiba Alsafar  7 , Fatme Al Anouti  8 , Abdishakur Abdulle  2 , Claire K Inman  2 , Aisha Al Hamiz  2 , Muna Haji  2 , Jiyoung Ahn  9   10 , Tomas Kirchhoff  9 , Richard B Hayes  9   10 , Ravichandran Ramasamy  9 , Ann Marie Schmidt  9 , Omar El Shahawy  9 , Michael Weitzman  9 , Raghib Ali  2 , Scott Sherman  2   9
Affiliations

Patterns of tobacco use in the United Arab Emirates Healthy Future (UAEHFS) pilot study

Mohammed Al-Houqani et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Introduction: Self-reported tobacco use in the United Arab Emirates is among the highest in the region. Use of tobacco products other than cigarettes is widespread, but little is known about specific behavior use patterns. There have been no studies that have biochemically verified smoking status.

Methods: The UAE Healthy Future Study (UAEHFS) seeks to understand the causes of non-communicable diseases through a 20,000-person cohort study. During the study pilot, 517 Emirati nationals were recruited to complete a questionnaire, provide clinical measurements and biological samples. Complete smoking data were available for 428 participants. Validation of smoking status via cotinine testing was conducted based on complete questionnaire data and matching urine samples for 399 participants, using a cut-off of 200ng/ml to indicate active smoking status.

Results: Self-reported tobacco use was 36% among men and 3% among women in the sample. However, biochemical verification of smoking status revealed that 42% men and 9% of women were positive for cotinine indicating possible recent tobacco use. Dual and poly-use of tobacco products was fairly common with 32% and 6% of the sample reporting respectively.

Conclusions: This is the first study in the region to biochemically verify tobacco use self-report data. Tobacco use in this study population was found to be higher than previously thought, especially among women. Misclassification of smoking status was more common than expected. Poly-tobacco use was also very common. Additional studies are needed to understand tobacco use behaviors and the extent to which people may be exposed to passive tobacco smoke.

Implications: This study is the first in the region to biochemically verify self-reported smoking status.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. UAEHFS smoking data included for analysis.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Time to first use for cigarettes and midwakh.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Single and poly-tobacco use by type.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Comparison of self-reported and cotinine-verified smoking status by sex.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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