Waterpipe Smoking in the Male College Students: an Education Intervention Using Theory Of Planned Behavior

In the world, the trend of increasing water pipe smoking was more than the cigarettes smoking. The aim of this study was to determine of effectiveness of an educational intervention based on theory of planned behavior (TPB) to reducing water pipe smoking in the male college students who are living in dormitories of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2011. This study was a quasi-experimental type. In this study, 90 college students were selected by random sampling method. Data collection was performed by designed questionnaire based on TPB constructs and demographic variables. The participants filled out questionnaires before the intervention. Education intervention was designed according to pre-test results and performed for intervention group. Two groups were followed- up two-months after completion of intervention and filled out questionnaires again. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS software, Chi-Square test, Independent sample T-test and analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Findings of present study showed that there are significant differences between the mean score of attitude, behavioral intention, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control in the intervention group as compare to the control group after intervention. In addition, significant reductions in the frequency of water pipe smoking were observed in the intervention group as compare to the control group. The results showed that designing educational intervention based on TPB constructs may be an effective strategy for changing positive perceptions of college students toward water pipe smoking and reducing of smoking it.