Predictors of Past Quit Attempts and Length of Abstinence among Waterpipe Smokers in Lebanon

Abstract

Introduction: The popularity of waterpipe smoking is dramatically increasing in Lebanon, reaching 36.9%, the highest among countries in the region, with a false belief that waterpipe is less dangerous and toxic compared to cigarettes. Aim: To assess factors associated with the quit attempts and their past length of abstinence in a Lebanese sample of waterpipe smokers. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2014 and March 2015 involving 127 patients. A questionnaire was completed by each participant; Quit attempts, real quit attempt durations and the intention to seriously quit waterpipe smoking in 2 months were assessed. Two forward logistic regressions were performed, taking into account the variables in the bivariate analysis that showed a p-value <0.2. Results: Past attempt to quit waterpipe smoking was significantly higher among smokers who had cough and expectoration for more than 3 weeks (OR=8.2), at higher stages of readiness to quit (OR=2.78) and being highly motivated (OR=2.27). A longer duration of abstinence to smoke waterpipe was higher among waterpipe smokers less than 45 years (OR=6.85), who considered it very important to report health warning on tumbac packages (OR=3.09) and with a low waterpipe dependence (OR=2.13). Conclusion: Health care professionals should play an important role in explaining the side effects of waterpipe smoking in order to decrease dependence.

Keywords

• intention to quit
• motivation
• narguileh
• quit attempt
• readiness to quit
• shisha