SHISHA-SMOKING

Worldwide, annual rate of 4.9 million deaths have been reported due to thetobacco abuse and this rate might rise to 10 million in the next 20-30 years. Seventy percentof these deaths take place in developing countries. Objectives: To determine the prevalenceand knowledge of shisha-smoking among the university students of Jamshoro and HyderabadSindh, Pakistan. Methodology: A Questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conductedfrom December 2013 to August 2014. A convenient sampling of 400 participants was donefrom three universities at Jamshoro and one at Hyderabad i.e., Liaquat University of Medicaland Health Science (LUMHS), University of Sindh and Mehran University of Engineering andTechnology (MUET) Jamshoro and Isra University, Hyderabad. Undergraduate male students,age ranging between 18-23 years, were included whereas females, postgraduate studentsand house officers were excluded. Data were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package forthe Social Sciences) version 16. Results: Ninety-two percent students were aware of shishasmokingwhereas 8% had no knowledge. Thirty-six percent have ever smoked shisha while64% of students never smoked it. Of the smoking students, 45% mentioned smoking shishararely, 25% of students smoked sometimes, 13% smoked always, 6% smoked it often and10% smoked just once. Most of the students (92%) knew the hazards associated with shishasmoking. According to 48% participants, shisha-smoking is far more dangerous than cigarette-smoking. Conclusions: Prevalence of shisha-smoking in the educated youth is high; however,only half were aware of its harmful effects.