Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2004
Journal/Book/Conference Title
BMC Public Health
Volume
4
DOI of Original Publication
10.1186/1471-2458-4-32
Date of Submission
August 2014
Abstract
Background
Waterpipe smoking is becoming a global public health problem, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR).
Methods
We try in this study, which is a cross sectional survey among a representative sample of waterpipe smokers in cafes/restaurants in Aleppo-Syria, to assess the time period for the beginning of this new smoking hype. We recruited 268 waterpipe smokers (161 men, 107 women; mean age ± standard deviation (SD) 30.1 ± 10.2, response rate 95.3%). Participants were divided into 4 birth cohorts (≤ 1960, 1961–1970, 1971–1980, >1980) and year of initiation of waterpipe smoking and daily cigarette smoking were plotted according to these birth cohorts.
Results
Data indicate that unlike initiation of cigarette smoking, which shows a clear age-related pattern, the nineties was the starting point for most of waterpipe smoking implicating this time period for the beginning of the waterpipe epidemic in Syria.
Conclusion
The introduction of new flavored and aromatic waterpipe tobacco (Maassel), and the proliferation of satellite and electronic media during the nineties may have helped spread the new hype all over the Arab World.
Rights
© 2004 Rastam et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Is Part Of
VCU Psychology Publications
Comments
Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-4-32