title: Waterpipe smoking: prevalence and attitudes among medical students in London.
abstract: Although waterpipe smoking is growing in popularity worldwide, its epidemiology remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and attitudes of waterpipe smoking among 489 medical students (54.6% female; mean age 20.4 ± 2.0 years) in the  United Kingdom by conducting a cross-sectional survey. Waterpipe smoking was more common than cigarette smoking (current 11.0% vs. 6.3%, ever 51.7% vs. 16.8%). Mean age at waterpipe smoking initiation was 16.1 ± 2.6 years. Sex, ethnicity and sociodemographic factors did not predict  current/ever waterpipe smoking. Tobacco control efforts need to consider waterpipe smoking in the light of this high prevalence.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK. mohammed.jawad06@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jawad
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abass
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hariri
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Rajasooriar
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Salmasi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Millett
authors.forename: F L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Hamilton
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013337:Students, Medical; D055815:Young Adult