Conference abstract
Prevalence of waterpipe smoking among university students in Russia and Ukraine is threatening
Tatiana Andreeva
BACKGROUND: Waterpipe smoking becomes a public health problem in countries where it is brought from the Middle East. The objective was to compare prevalence of waterpipe smoking among university students (WSAUS) in two countries of the former Soviet Union – Russia and Ukraine – with countries with traditional use of waterpipe and those where it has recently arisen.
METHODS: A systematic review of research of WSAUS was conducted with the use of PubMed. Survey of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy students (Kiev, Ukraine) was conducted in 2007-2009 and of Kazan medical university (Kazan, Russia) in 2010.
RESULTS: Nineteen studies of WSAUS were revealed. Daily WSAUS was only addresses in four studies and varied from about 1% in Lebanon and Pakistan to 7% in men in Syria. Prevalence of daily smoking in Russia (0.6%) did not exceed that.
Current smoking varied greatly: 5.6-35.0% for all, 14.6-49.6% for males, 4.9-20.2% for females.
Last week WSAUS varied from 3.3% in Pakistan to 9.3 in Lebanon. Measurements in Russia (3.5%) fall into this interval.
Last month WSAUS varied from 9.5% to 20% in Iran, Pakistan, and USA with 13-14% measured in Russia and Ukraine.
Last year WSAUS was between 18.7% in Pakistan and 30.6% in USA. Measurements in Kiev (39.7%) and Kazan (52.3%) were much higher. Ever smoking of waterpipe was 37.9% in UK, 53.6% in Pakistan, and somewhat higher in Russia and Ukraine.
CONCLUSIONS: Comparison of period prevalence indicators in selected universities of Ukraine and Russia shows that daily, weekly, monthly prevalence indicators are similar to those in countries with traditional use of waterpipe. Last year and life time smoking indicators in Russia and Ukraine are higher than those in countries with traditional and newly established waterpipe use.
To measure prevalence of waterpipe smoking questions with clearly specified time spans (day, week, month, year, lifetime) are needed.
KEYWORDS: smoking, waterpipe, university students, prevalence, Russia, Ukraine.
Abstract (pdf) in English
