Effect of Age and Gender on the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Shisha Smoking among Medical and Dental Students of Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Objective:

To determine the effects o f age and gender on knowledge, attitude and practice o f Shisha smokingamong medical and dental students ofKarachi, Pakistan.

Methodology:

This cross sectional survey was conducted in 2007 among 7 colleges randomly chosen from20 medical and dental colleges ofKarachi. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among the studentsduring the class hours. The questionnaire contained demographic information, area o f study (medicine/dentistry),year o f study, smoking habits, frequency and place o f smoking, attitude and knowledge o f diseases related toshisha smoking.

Results:

Out of 1204 participants, 22.8% indicated that they smoked shisha. The prevalence among males andfemales were 41% and 16.9%, respectively. Only 35% o f the respondents indicated that they smoked shisha“daily†or weakly. 47.5% mentioned that they used shisha bar for shisha smoking. 67% o f the respondentsshowed that they were influenced by friends to adopt this habit. 59% of the students considered shisha smokingharmful. 62% o f the students related the shisha smoking to lung diseases and about quarter o f the respondentsrelated it to cancer and heart diseases. 

Conclusion:

The study concludes that a high prevalence o f shisha smoking exists among medical/dentalstudents and knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) among males are significantly different in m any respectsto the females. However, the age groups do not affect significantly in m ost o f the responses.