College students' perceptions and knowledge of hookah use.
Hookah is an increasingly popular tobacco product among college students. The purpose of this study was to determine if college students are aware of tobacco and nicotine content in hookah, and examine associations between college students' knowledge and perceptions of hookah and their past 30-day hookah use.



Participants were 5451 young adults attending one of 24 2- and 4-year colleges. Analyses examined if hookah knowledge was uniquely associated with current hookah use, over and above perceptions of harm and addictiveness, number of other tobacco products currently used, and socio-demographic factors. Analyses were first conducted for the entire sample and then only for current hookah users.



26.9% of all students believed hookah did not contain tobacco and 38% believed that hookah did not contain nicotine. Students who believed that hookah contained tobacco were at increased odds of hookah use, and those with increased perceptions of harm were at decreased odds of hookah use. However, hookah knowledge was not associated with hookah users' intensity of use. Moreover, although increased perceptions of harm were associated with lower intensity of use among current users, increased perceptions of addictiveness were associated with higher intensity of use.



This study shows gaps in knowledge of hookah contents, and adds to the body of literature, which provides evidence for mandating warning labels as well as tobacco interventions for college students.
The University of Texas Health Science at Houston, School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus, 1616 Guadalupe Street Suite 6.300, Austin, TX 78701, USA. Electronic address: melisa.r.creamer@uth.tmc.edu.
MeLisa R
MR
Creamer
The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Kinesiology & Health Education, 2109 San Jacinto Blvd. D3700, Austin, TX 78712-1415, USA. Electronic address: alexandra.loukas@austin.utexas.edu.
Alexandra
A
Loukas
The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Kinesiology & Health Education, 2109 San Jacinto Blvd. D3700, Austin, TX 78712-1415, USA. Electronic address: lixiaoyin@utexas.edu.
Xiaoyin
X
Li
The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Kinesiology & Health Education, 2109 San Jacinto Blvd. D3700, Austin, TX 78712-1415, USA. Electronic address: kpasch@austin.utexas.edu.
Keryn E
KE
Pasch
The University of Texas Health Science at Houston, School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus, 1616 Guadalupe Street Suite 6.300, Austin, TX 78701, USA. Electronic address: Kathleen.r.case@uth.tmc.edu.
Kathleen
K
Case
The University of Texas Health Science at Houston, School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus, 1616 Guadalupe Street Suite 6.300, Austin, TX 78701, USA. Electronic address: Brittani.crook@uth.tmc.edu.
Brittani
B
Crook
The University of Texas Health Science at Houston, School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus, 1616 Guadalupe Street Suite 6.300, Austin, TX 78701, USA. Electronic address: cheryl.l.perry@uth.tmc.edu.
Cheryl L
CL
Perry
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult; D062789:Tobacco Products
Hookah; Knowledge; Perceptions; Young adults
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