Waterpipe tobacco smoking prevalence and its related factors among Iranian population

Introduction and objectives: Due to the fact that waterpipe tobacco smoking is increasing among people around the world, there is no enough information about its consumption. This study is designed to evaluate the prevalence of waterpipe tobacco smoking and its related factors among Iranian adults. Method: This is a cross-sectional study carried out during 2014-2015 in Tehran among 1830 citizens of over fifteen years old. Sampling was through Stratified multistage cluster sampling with proportional allocation within strata.GATS questionnaire for waterpipe consumption was used for data gathering. Data were statistically analyzed by SPSS software. Results: The prevalence of current waterpipe tobacco smoking was 17.6% .Waterpipe use prevalence in men was significantly more than women9s (24.2% vs. 11.3%). Multivariate analysis showed that age,sex,cigarette consumption, waterpipe consumption at home and wrong belief about safety of waterpipe were significantly influenced the current waterpipe consumption. p=0.001 conclusion: The prevalence of current waterpipe use in adults was 17.9%, which is a significant rate. The consumption among the men is two times more than women. After adjusting, the associated factors with current waterpipe smoking included: being male, current cigarette smoking, long life ever cigarette smoking, misperception about it9s safety, and the exposure to waterpipe smoke in the house. It is needed to have special consideration towards waterpipe use in Iran9s tobacco control programs and it is essential to fight against it alongside with the combat against cigarette consumption.