Background And Objectives: Narghile is becoming the favorite form of tobacco use by youth globally. This problem has received more attention in recent years. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and pattern of narghile use among students in three public Jordanian universities; to assess their beliefs about narghile's adverse health consequences; and to evaluate their awareness of oral health and oral hygiene.

Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey of university students. A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire was distributed randomly to university students in three public Jordanian universities during December, 2008. The questionnaire was designed to ask specific questions that are related to smoking in general, and to narghile smoking in specific. There were also questions about oral health awareness and oral hygiene practices.

Results: 36.8% of the surveyed sample indicated they were smokers comprising 61.9% of the male students and 10.7% of the female students in the study sample. Cigarettes and narghile were the preferred smoking methods among male students (42%). On the other hand, female students preferred narghile only (53%). Parental smoking status but not their educational level was associated with the students smoking status. Smokers had also significantly poor dental attendance and poor oral hygiene habits.

Conclusion: This study confirmed the spreading narghile epidemic among young people in Jordan like the neighboring countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region. Alarming signs were the poor oral health awareness among students particularly smokers.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2893172PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1477-7517-7-10DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

university students
12
oral health
12
students
10
prevalence pattern
8
students three
8
three public
8
public jordanian
8
jordanian universities
8
awareness oral
8
specific questions
8

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!