Hookah Use Among College Students from a Midwest University

Abstract

National data indicate nearly a quarter of college students smoked from a hookah at some point in their lifetime regardless of gender. To address this issue, researchers assessed the perceptions, knowledge, beliefs of hookah users at a large Midwestern University and also determined what other drug related high-risk behaviors were associated with this behavior. An anonymous, online survey was sent to 2,000 randomly selected undergraduate students from a large Midwestern University. Researchers used a cross sectional research design to determine the prevalence and motivating factors associated with hookah use. Respondents included 438 individuals (60% female) with an average age of 23.1 (SD = 12.32), yielding a response rate of 22%. Approximately 15.4% of the sample had previously smoked hookah, while 6% used hookah within the past 30 days. Common motivating factors associated with smoking hookah included socializing/partying (29%), peer influence (27%), and for relaxation (25%). Correlations were calculated comparing hookah use to other high risk behaviors with the two highest correlations consisted of 30-day tobacco use (r = 0.67) and marijuana (r = 0.39). The results from this study suggest hookah use is limited to a small percentage of students. Students appear to smoke hookah for social reasons and underestimate the addictive properties associated with the product. Researchers and practitioners need to develop and evaluate specific interventions to educate college students about the health hazards associated with hookah use.

Hookah Smoking: Characteristics, Behavior and Perceptions of Youth Smokers in Pune, India

“…In the present study, the percentage of males smoking hookah was more compared to females; same trend was observed in earlier studies (Mazaik et al, 2004;Poyrazoglu et al, 2010;AL-Naggar and Saghir Fatma, 2011). While higher percentage of female hookah smokers has been reported in Jordon (DarOdeh et al, 2010), no gender difference was observed in studies from US (Braun et al, 2012;Brockman et al, 2012).…”

“…39.21% Pune youth smoked for relaxation as versus 25% smokers in US who also reported that hookah smoking was a part of socializing, and was greatly influenced by the peers (Braun et al, 2012). Usually, hookah smoking is enjoyed in the company of friends (Maziak et al, 2004) and thus has become a group socializing activity (Aljarrah et al ., 2009).…”

“…It is observed that hookah smokers underestimate the health risks and addictive properties of hookah use (Braun et al, 2012;Broakman et al, 2012), have low knowledge about dangers or are unaware (AL-Naggar and Saghir Fatma, 2011;Nuzzo et al, 2013).…”

“…In the present time, this ancient trend has re-emerged again. Different epidemiological studies related to hookah smoking have been conducted, which evaluate the attitudes, perceptions and behaviour of the youth and university students (Maziak, 2004;Smith-Simone et al, 2008;Aljarrah et al, 2009;Dar-Odeh et al, 2010;Jordan and Delnevo, 2010;Poyrazoglu et al, 2010;Ahmed et al, 2011;AL-Naggar and Saghir Fatma, 2011;Martinasek, 2011;Braun et al, 2012;Brockman et al, 2012;Nuzzo et al, 2012). No study was found, which relates to information about the personal characteristics, perceptions and behaviour of the hookah smokers in India.…”

Risk Factors Associated With Hookah Use

“…Our findings corroborate past studies that indicate hookah smoking is increasingly popular among young adults, especially those who have or are working towards obtaining a college degree. 36,40,43,44 There are currently many hookah establishments that have emerged and these locations tend to be in "trendy" locations such as cafes and lounges in metropolitan areas that are often located near college campuses. Our findings might be related to the strategic locations of hookah establishments near and/or around college campuses, or perhaps they are due to the social networking and marketing of hookah use that is clustered among college students.…”