Influence of Training about Carcinogenic Effects of Hookah Smoking on the Awareness, Attitude, and Performance of Women

BACKGROUND: Wrong attitudes and beliefs about the less carcinogenic effects of hookah smoking comparing to cigarette, easy availability, low cost, and other factors have caused that the usage of hookah smoking increase a lot in our country. Objective: This study has been done with the purpose of examining the influence of education about carcinogenic effects of hookah smoking on the awareness, attitude, and performance of women who refer to the healthcare and medical treatment centers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: At this semi experimental study, 60 women who refer to the medical and hygienic centers of Bushehr were placed in 3 educational groups based on simple accidental sampling. The tool for data collection was a questionnaire including demographic features, awareness, attitude, and performance measurement. RESULTS: According to the results, the amount of awareness in the majority (48%) of participants about carcinogenic effects of hookah smoking was in an average level. 100% of the participants had the awareness of over 33.1% and their attitude toward hookah smoking was 100% positive that after the intervention it was reported 5%. The participants’ performance in hookah smoking before the intervention was only 25% desirable that after the intervention it was reported 73.3%. The results of Kolmogorov–Smirnov test also showed that the distribution of awareness, attitude, and performance was quite normal. CONCLUSION: According to the results, it’s the society’s basic need to warn people about carcinogenic effects of hookah smoking by increasing people’s awareness through media, holding training courses, showing movies, and training booklets.