Prevalence of waterpipe smoking and awareness of related orodental complications in university students in Kerman, Iran

BACKGROUND an‎d AIM: Waterpipe smoking causes many negative side effects on the oral health. Our objective was to describe the prevalence of waterpipe smoking and awareness of related orodental complications in Iranian university students. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 384 students of Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran, studying in Kerman in 2018-2019, who were selected by simple random sampling. The data were collected through a questionnaire containing demographic characteristics, waterpipe smoking information, and 18 questions about awareness of related orodental complications. The data were analyzed by SPSS software, using t-test, Tukey’s test, regression, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) at the significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: 184 (48.0%) subjects were men. The mean age of participants and the mean age for beginning waterpipe smoking was 22.10 ± 2.47 and 18.05 ± 2.61 years, respectively. 168 (43.8%) subjects used waterpipe, 105 (62.5%) used waterpipe just for fun, and 120 (71.4%) smoked the waterpipe in cafes. The mean score of their awareness was 10.47 ± 4.45 out of 18. The ranking of the scores in terms of awareness was good (33.4%), moderate (45.4%), and poor (19.3%). There was a significant relationship between gender, marital status (men and married subjects had more knowledge), lack of waterpipe smoking, and awareness. CONCLUSION: Waterpipe smoking among the students was relatively high, and the awareness of the negative influences of waterpipe on oral health was moderate. The awareness of students concerning the consequences of waterpipe smoking on oral health should be taken into consideration emphatically.