Paan Use in South-Eastern Iran: The Associated Factors

Background: Smokeless tobacco use is growing among youth in many countries especially developing countries. Paan is one of these products that its use in many cultures is of interest. This study evaluates the use of paan among males school-age and assess the attributed factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on 504 high school pupils of Zahedan city, Capital of Sistan va Baluchistan Province, southeastern Iran in June 2007. Samples were selected by multistage sampling method from high school students in different geographic areas. A questionnaire including 43 questions was completed through interviews. Results: The mean age of participants was 16.2±1.1 years. While 10.4% of the students were current users of paan, 17.9% were ex-users. Mean duration of using paan was 2.5±1.6 years. Number of daily paan consumption was 4.2±3.6/day. Cigar was the most common substance used at least once by pupils (18.6%) followed by paan (17.9%), naas (11.5%) and other illicit drugs. Only 64.7% of our pupils did not use any illicit drug at the time of study. Risk of paan use among students who had a history of taking any other substance was 18-fold more than others. In the case of each attitude, score accretion and risk of paan consumption declined up to 16%. Conclusion: Among multiple personal, familial and environmental factors, positive history of using any kind of illicit drugs by students and their attitude had strong association with paan use.