The prevalence of waterpipe tobacco smoking among Polish youths

INTRODUCTION: Waterpipe smoking is gaining popularity among the youth in Poland and is evaluated for the first time in this work. The authors address the social and demographic factors that motivate young people to smoke and attempt to determine which of them contribute to habit formation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data were collected among school and university students in Poland during a global survey on various forms of tobacco use. Multivariable regression models were applied for odds-ratio evaluation. The data concern waterpipe and cigarette smoking habits. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 19,097 respondents. The survey included 144 schools and 32 universities from 16 voivodeships in Poland. Respondent gender exhibited the highest ORs (95% Cl), both in the case of current and ever WP users: 2.11 (2.10–2.12) and 2.16 (2.15–2.17), respectively. The other important factor was a place of living: 1.83 (1.82–1.84) and 2.17 (2.16–2.18), respectively. All ORs were statistically significant for p = 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of tobacco smoking among Polish youths is high. Waterpipe tobacco smoking was found to be the second most popular habit after cigarette smoking. Moreover, young smokers use other non-tobacco products in waterpipes, and drink alcohol during smoking sessions. Many young people try waterpipe smoking without previous experience with cigarettes.