Attitude of University Students towards Waterpipe Smoking: Study in Iran

BACKGROUND Tobacco is consumed in various forms, and there has been an increasing trend worldwide in the use of waterpipe. This study aimed to assess the university students' attitudes towards waterpipe. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study; 1130 students randomly were selected from universities of Kerman, Iran. They were provided with a researcher-made questionnaire after obtaining the informed consent. The anonymous questionnaires were completed with ensuring about information confidentiality. In addition to the underlying questions, the questionnaires consisted of 10 attitude survey questions. Higher scores indicated more positive attitudes. FINDINGS The obtained results indicated a significant difference of attitude of the students who were current or occasional smokers of waterpipe in comparison with the students who never smoked it towards addictiveness, social acceptance or rejection and its harmfulness; so that their attitudes were more positive (P < 0.05). Mean ± SD of attitude score of the students who never consumed waterpipe before, those who had the history of consuming it at least once and those who were current smokers were 1.40 ± 0.40, 1.50 ± 0.41 and 1.70 ± 0.43, respectively (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Waterpipe smoking was associated with false beliefs and positive attitudes among the students; therefore, the necessity of education and attitude changing is required in this regard.