7. Frequency of Sheesha Smoking Among the People of Karachi
Tafazzul H. Zaidi1, Tariq Kamal Jafri2 and Kiran Mehtab1
ABSTRACT
Objective: To assess the frequency of Sheesha Smoking among People of Karachi.
Study Design: Cross sectional study
Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Sheesha bars, hospitals and different places in Karachi from November 2017 to March 2018.
Materials and Methods: 264 people had taken part in this study, n=264. A self administered structured questionnaire after an informed verbal consent was distributed and got filled. A pilot study was conducted to assess the validity of questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 with 95% confidence interval, margin of error was taken as 5% and P-value 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: 264 Sheesha smokers participated in the study. Amongst all the 74.2% were students, 22.7% were employed while 2.3% of people owned shop. 85.6 were males while 14.4 were females. The highest number of people started Sheesha smoking in 15-20 year of age with the value of 60.6%. 83.7% people were introduced to Sheesha through their friends. Most of the people accepted that the flavor of Shisha attracted them a lot and 52.7% of them had been smoking Shisha for more than one year .The highest number of people took money from their parents for Sheesha smoking. Research showed that 64.6% people smoked Sheesha for fun. Most of them accepted that Sheesha affected their mood and 71.6% knew its hazardous effects on health and 56.8% of them were trying to give up their habit.
Conclusion: The study concluded that the trend of Sheesha smoking is increasing at high rate. Most of the people who are indulged in this activity are young people who are our future but due to unawareness of it hazardous effects, people starts smoking Shisha, they use it for fun with friends and spend more than an hour in smoking. The trend is also getting popular among families. The society as well as Government must take steps to stop this menace from spreading and spoiling our youth.
Key Words: Shisha, Frequency, Awareness, Hazards, Effects, Routine, Life
Citation of articles: Zaidi TH, Jafri TK, Mehtab K. Frequency of Sheesha Smoking among the People of
Karachi. Med Forum 2018;29(6):30-34.