INTRODUCTION To date research on tobacco smoking with a waterpipe (hookah, narghile, and shisha) has focused primarily on the individual user in a laboratory setting. Yet, waterpipe tobacco smoking is often a social practice that occurs in cafés, homes, and other natural settings. This observational study examined the behavior of waterpipe tobacco smokers and the social and contextual features ...

BACKGROUND Tobacco use is considered one of the largest public health threats facing the world. The estimated number of current smokers in the world exceeds 1.3 billion, which means that one third of the world's population above 15 years are smokers. Smoking prevalence is increasing in the developing world but monitoring of this trend is poor in these countries. Studies on smoking in Iraq are s...

BACKGROUND Waterpipe (hookah, shisha) tobacco smoking has spread worldwide. Many waterpipe smokers believe that, relative to cigarettes, waterpipes are associated with lower smoke toxicant levels and fewer health risks. For physicians to address these beliefs credibly, waterpipe use and cigarette smoking must be compared directly. PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to provide the first cont...

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...