FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH WATERPIPE SMOKING AMONG MALE ADOLESCENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background and Aim : Water pipe smoking (WPS) is an important leisure activity among adolescents and young people in Iran and the prevalence of it has increased. The aim of this study was to assess the factors associated with WPS among male adolescent students in western Iran.Methods : This cross-sectional study was performed on 730 high school male students (grades 10- 12, Human scienscinces, Natursl sciences, Mathematics and Technical sciences majors), who were recruited through multi-stage random sampling in the Hamadan city, western Iran, 2017. The self-administered questionnaires included information on demo graphic variables (age, grade, major, father s and mother s occupation, father s and mother s education, whether having own room and living status) and behavioral risk factors (never, ever and current WP smoker, age at WPS initiation, computer usage, internet usage, ever cigarette smoking, current cigarette smoking, having friends who smokes WP and having family members who smoke WP) related to WPS. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences (ID: IR.UMSHA.REC.1396.21) and informed consent was taken from all students before the study began. Statistical analyses were done using SPSS version 22 summarizing descriptive statistics and multi nominal lo gistic regression. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results : The mean (SD) ages of the students (from 15 to 18 years) and at WPS initiation were 16.41(0.84) and 13.31 (2.43), respectively. The distribution of never, ever and current WPS were 37.3 %, 35.3% and 27.4%, respectively. We found that ever cigarette smoking (OR=5.34; 95% CI [2.66, 10.73]) and WPS family (OR=2.41; 95% CI [1.32, 4.40]) were significantly associated with ever WPS. WPS friends (OR= 0.50; 95% CI [0.35, 0.72]) had protective role on ever WPS. Also, 18 years of age, studying in technical fields, ever, current smoking of cigarettes and WPS family were significantly associated with the current WPS.Conclusion : This study showed that the prevalence of ever and current WPS were high among male adolescent students in Hamadan. Thus, designing and implementing interventions for increasing students’, friends and family s awareness regarding the harms of WPS, changing positive attitude to WPS and cigarette smoking facilitating behavior change is necessary.

Keywords:

Male adolescents , Risk Factors , Student , Water Pipe Smoking