Tobacco use in shisha: Studies on waterpipe smoking

Table 3.1 Age, sex and residence distribution of sample subjects and estimated represented
population
Age and sex
Group 1: current <strong>shisha</strong> smokers
Rural Urban
Sample Estimated population Sample Estimated population
Male 18 years and older 751 8 678 336 750 8 742 049
Female 18 years and older 970 9 074 143 897 9 737 041
Male younger than 18 years 255 2 158 328 214 1 435 342
Female younger than 18 years 273 2 731 193 180 1 586 576
Total 2249 22 642 002 2041 21 501 009
The next series of tables describes persons who stated they had tried <strong>shisha</strong> and were
current <strong>shisha</strong> smokers at the time of <strong>in</strong>terview (any day dur<strong>in</strong>g the four weeks prior to <strong>in</strong>terview
day). Tables 3.2 present some basic f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs of this group. The prevalence of <strong>shisha</strong> <strong>use</strong> among
males was somewhat higher <strong>in</strong> the rural areas compared to urban areas, although the confidence
<strong>in</strong>tervals of the two estimates overlap (Table 3.2c).
The follow<strong>in</strong>g data (Table 3.3) apply only to the sampled <strong>in</strong>dividuals (not to be projected
to the national level). Among the 212 current smokers of <strong>shisha</strong> the follow<strong>in</strong>g parameters give
an idea about the number of korsi or hagar (see Section 1 for term<strong>in</strong>ology) they smoke on
the day of <strong>shisha</strong> <strong>use</strong>. No statistically significant differences <strong>in</strong> these parameters were found
between rural and urban <strong>use</strong>rs (us<strong>in</strong>g Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests). The exposure
level of waterpipe tobacco smok<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> terms of average number of hagar per day is only 2.8
+2.7 ( range 1–20/day).
Table 3.2a Prevalence of <strong>shisha</strong> smok<strong>in</strong>g distributed by age, sex and residence
Age and sex
Rural Urban
No. % No. %
Male 18 years and older 115 15.3 82 10.9
Female 18 years and older 1 0.1 2 0.2
Male younger than 18 years 8 3.1 4 1.9
Female younger than 18 years 0 0.0 0 0.0
Total 124 5.5 88 4.3
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