Prevalence of Hookah Smoking and Its Related Factors Among Students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 2012 - 2013

BACKGROUND Hookah smoking has increased worldwide, especially among young people. OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of hookah use and related factors in a sample of Iranian students of medical sciences. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1992 randomly selected sample of students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences during 2012 - 2013. A multistage sampling method was used and anonymous structured questionnaires were distributed to the students of each selected class. Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and multiple binary logistic regression analyses were performed and P < 0.05 was considered as a significance level. RESULTS Lifetime, last year and last month prevalence rates of hookah smoking were 26.6% (95% CI: 24.7 - 28.6), 17.8% (95% CI: 16.1 - 19.5) and 8.9% (95% CI: 7.7 - 10.2), respectively. The results of logistic regression model showed that male gender [odds ratio (OR) = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.86 - 4.21], cigarette smoking in the past year (OR = 5.6, 95% CI: 3.21 - 9.83), alcohol use in the past year (OR = 7.4, 95% CI: 4.01 - 13.06), cigarette or hookah smoking in the family members (OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.13 - 2.51), cigarette or hookah smoking among friends (OR = 4.4, 95% CI: 2.69 - 7.33), alcohol use by friends in the past year (OR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.20 - 3.14), and illicit substance use among friends (OR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.22 - 4.05) were associated with hookah smoking. CONCLUSIONS The results of our study indicate a relatively high prevalence of hookah smoking among Iranian students. The findings emphasize the importance of planning preventive interventions by considering different high-risk behaviors simultaneously.