Health issues in the Arab American community. Tobacco use patterns among high school students: do Arab American youth differ?
OBJECTIVE
To determine tobacco use rates (cigarette, water pipe smoking [WPS] or narghile) in Arab American compared to non-Arab youth.


METHODS
A convenience sample of 2,782 14- to 18-year-old high school students from a midwest community completed a 21-item tobacco use history survey.


RESULTS
Seventy-one percent of the participants were ArA. Grades 9 through 12 were equally represented. Results included 'ever tried cigarettes [narghile]' (20%, 39%); 'smoked cigarettes [narghile] in the past 30 days' (7%, 22%); and 'regular smoking [narghile]' (3%, 15%) for ArA and non-Arab youths, respectively. Each was significantly related to grade and ethnicity. WPS for ArA and non-Arab youths was (38%, 21%); (17%, 11%); and (7%, 5%) for 'ever used,' 'used in the past 30 days,' and 'regular use,' respectively. Grade, ethnicity, and sex were significantly related to WPS.


CONCLUSIONS
Cigarette smoking rates for non-Arab youth were lower than current national youth smoking rates but significantly higher than ArA youth. Rates for ArA youth were much lower than current national reported data. Rates of WPS for US youth, regardless of race or ethnicity, are not known. Findings from this study indicate that both ArA and non-Arab youth are experimenting and using WPS regularly. These results underscore the importance of assessing novel forms of tobacco use, particularly WPS, a growing phenomenon among US youth.
Weglicki
Linda S
LS
Wayne State University College of Nursing, USA.
Templin
Thomas
T
Hammad
Adnan
A
Jamil
Hikmet
H
Abou-Mediene
Sharifa
S
Farroukh
Mona
M
Rice
Virginia Hill
VH
D000293:Adolescent; D018912:Arabs; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008877:Middle East / Q000208:ethnology; D012574:Schools; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology