Aurangzeb, Hassan Masood, Hadia Aziz, Sana Shahid, Sadaf Hina, Faiza Altaf.
Perceptions and Practices of Shihsa Smoking among Medical Students.
Ann Pak Inst Med Sci Jan ;8(4):216-9.

Objective: To determine the perception and practices of shisha smoking among medical students. Introduction: Shisha smoking is on the rise among the youth, all over the world. Various shisha bars and restaurants have been established which serve shisha. Although common among all age groups it is particularly popular among teenagers who are oblivious to the health problems and dangers associated with shisha smoking. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and duration: This study was conducted in Community Medicine Department Wah medical college, Wah Cantt from 1st February 2009 to 10th October 2009. Materials and Methods: A total of 152 students of all classes were selected by systematic random sampling technique (every 3rd student was taken). Two Unwilling and non-cooperative students were excluded. All the students were subjected to fill a pre-tested and structured questionnaire designed to find out the perceptions and practices of students regarding shisha smoking. Results: The study showed that 133 (88.66%) of the students exactly knew what a shisha was and 79 (52.66%) of the sampled students smoked shisha. More than half, 47 (59.49%) of the students used to smoke shisha in a shisha bar. 105 (78.7%) out of 133 students knew about the hazards of shisha smoking. Conclusion: Most students knew about shisha and its hazards, more than half of them were involved in shisha smoking. Most of the students started smoking shisha because their friends smoked.

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