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Review
. 2019 Apr 19:17:35.
doi: 10.18332/tid/105843. eCollection 2019.

Smoking tobacco prevalence among college students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Saad A Alotaibi  1 , Mohammed A Alsuliman  1 , Praveen K Durgampudi  1
Affiliations
Review

Smoking tobacco prevalence among college students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Saad A Alotaibi et al. Tob Induc Dis. .

Abstract

Introduction: During the last two decades, several studies have been published regarding the prevalence of tobacco smoking among college students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This systematic review and meta-analysis is intended to determine and examine the smoking prevalence in Saudi college students from 2010-2018.

Methods: PubMed, Science Direct, APA PsycNET, Web of Science, and CINAHL were used to search for published articles reporting the smoking prevalence among Saudi college students. After eliminating irrelevant articles, investigators independently assessed the quality of each article, based on Russell & Gregory guidelines. MetaXL software was used to calculate the pooled prevalence among included studies, using the IVhert model. Heterogeneity among the included studies was evaluated, using I2 statistic. Sensitivity analyses were conducted between male and female genders.

Results: Of the 295 published articles, 29 articles used a cross-sectional design to determine smoking prevalence among Saudi college students. Most of the studies were conducted in Riyadh at health-science-related colleges; the rest were performed in different cities and colleges. The meta-analysis showed that the pooled estimate of smoking prevalence among college students in the KSA was 17% (95% CI: 11-23%). Saudi male students had a prevalence rate of 26% (95% CI: 24-29%), whereas for Saudi female students the prevalence was 5% (95% CI: 3-7%).

Conclusions: Smoking among Saudi college students was higher than in the majority of regional countries (e.g. Iran). Saudi male students had a higher smoking prevalence than Saudi female college students. Additionally, studies that reported a high prevalence targeted students in specific disciplines. Public health authorities in the KSA should develop a surveillance system that monitors the prevalence of tobacco smoking on campuses. A surveillance system of monitoring tobacco use among Saudi college students could be beneficial in determining the degree of the tobacco problem and in improving current tobacco control programs.

Keywords: KSA; college campuses; metaanalysis; prevalence; tobacco smoking.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none was reported.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of selection criteria in this systematic review and meta-analysis
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of smoking among Saudi male students before conducting sensitivity analysis
Figure 3
Figure 3
Prevalence of smoking among Saudi female students before conducting sensitivity analysis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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