BACKGROUND There is a clear shift in smoking habits among the Middle Eastern population with a recent and alarming increase in the prevalence of waterpipe (shisha) smoking. This phenomenon has not yet been studied sufficiently across the physician population. Therefore, we set out to establish the smoking status of primary healthcare physicians in the kingdom of Bahrain. METHODS A self-admini...

To the Editor-in-Chief: We respectfully resubmit to BMC Public Health our manuscript (#1872779892138581) entitled " Systematic review of cigar smoking and all-cause and smoking-related mortality. " We have revised the manuscript based on the comments from the reviewers. Please see below, the point-by-point response to each of the reviewer comments, including the revisions made to the manuscript...

Waterpipe smoking has been described as "the second global tobacco epidemic since the cigarette." Both Middle Eastern ethnicity and having a friend of Middle Eastern ethnicity have been reported as significant predictors of waterpipe smoking. Addressing waterpipe smoking in this ethnic minority is essential to controlling this growing epidemic in the US. We investigated the predictors of an int...

OBJECTIVES To describe the association of cigar use with use of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and alcohol among adolescents; and to examine the association of self-esteem, physical activity, and use of tobacco promotional items with cigar use. METHODS A cross-sectional study of 7104 girls and 5499 boys 10 to 15 years of age in 1997. Data were collected from self-report questionnaires. RESU...