Hookah Use among Russian adolescents: Prevalence and correlates

Artur Galimov; Omar El Shahawy; Jennifer B Unger; Radik Masagutov; Steve Sussman

doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.11.018

Hookah Use among Russian adolescents: Prevalence and correlates

Addict Behav. 2019 Mar:90:258-264. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.11.018. Epub 2018 Nov 16.

Authors

Artur Galimov¹, Omar El Shahawy², Jennifer B Unger³, Radik Masagutov⁴, Steve Sussman⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of Southern California, 2001 N Soto St., 3rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9239, USA. Electronic address: galimov@usc.edu.
² Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, 227 East 30(th) Street, New York, NY, 10016, USA; Public Health Research Center, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, USA; College of Global Public Health, New York University, NY, USA); Community Health Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
³ Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of Southern California, 2001 N Soto St., 3rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9239, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Narcology, Bashkir State Medical University, 3 Lenina str, Ufa 450000, Russia.
⁵ Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of Southern California, 2001 N Soto St., 3rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9239, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, 3620 South McClintock Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1061, USA; School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 669 W 34th St, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0411, USA.

Abstract

Hookah use among adolescents is increasing globally. No prior studies in the published literature have examined hookah use among youth in the Russian Federation. We assessed demographic, psychological and behavioral factors associated with lifetime and past 30-day hookah use among Russian youth. This cross-sectional study was conducted in three areas of Bashkortostan, Russia. In 2015, we surveyed Russian high school students (n = 716) on socio-demographic characteristics, tobacco (cigarettes, e-cigarettes, hookah) and drug use (alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs), coping strategies, and getting in trouble (self and/or family). We estimated hookah use prevalence and performed bivariate analyses prior to fitting two multilevel models evaluating lifetime and past 30-day hookah use. Within this sample, 34.92% and 9.36% were lifetime and last 30-day hookah users, respectively. Lifetime hookah use was associated with older age (OR = 1.29), higher anger coping (OR = 1.41), school troubles (OR = 2.30), lifetime cigarette (OR = 1.59), e-cigarette (OR = 4.62), alcohol (OR = 5.61), and marijuana use (OR = 8.05). Additionally, past 30-day hookah use was associated with older age (OR = 1.71), lifetime use of alcohol (OR = 5.39), school troubles (OR = 5.82), and anger coping strategies (OR = 1.40). Hookah use is currently high among Russian youth in Bashkortostan and is associated with other risky behaviors. Effective interventions targeting multiple substances and coping strategies are needed. Social media campaigns encouraging cessation and advocating against its use at home may be beneficial in curbing hookah use among youth.

Keywords: Hookah; Nicotine; Russia; Tobacco; Waterpipe; Youth.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Prevalence
Rural Population
Russia / epidemiology
Sex Factors
Smoking / epidemiology*
Smoking Water Pipes / statistics & numerical data*
Urban Population

Grants and funding

P30 CA014089/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States