Department of Public Health Medicine, School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2012 Jun;14(6):755-60. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntr211. Epub 2011 Oct 29.
This study sought to determine the sociodemographic and behavioral factors associated with water pipe and smokeless tobacco (SLT) use among a population of medical students in the Pretoria area, South Africa.
Undergraduate medical students (N = 722) in their 2nd and 6th year of study in 2 medical schools in South Africa completed a self-administered questionnaire during 2008. Information on ever and current use of water pipe and SLT was obtained along with information on sociodemographic variables, alcohol use, and cigarette smoking status. Multiple logistic regression analysis were used to determine factors associated with current use of water pipe and SLT.
The mean age of study participants was 23 years. Of the participants, 53% were female and 55% were self-identified as Black Africans. Of the study participants, 18.6% were current water pipe users, 3.1% were current SLT users, while 17.3% were current cigarette smokers. Factors independently associated with current water pipe use were having an alcohol drinking-problem (odds ratio [OR] = 2.43; 95% CI = 1.48-3.40), currently smoking cigarettes (3.40; 2.04-5.67), and reporting exposure to smoking in places other than home (2.51; 1.29-4.90). Compared with Black students, White medical students were more likely to have smoked a water pipe in the past month (3.14; 1.74-5.70) but less likely to have ever used SLT (0.37; 0.19-0.73).
These findings suggest that the use of alternative tobacco products is common among South African medical students and may form part of a pattern of risk-taking behavior. Furthermore, there appear to be cultural differences in the use of certain tobacco products.
本研究旨在确定与南非比勒陀利亚地区医学生群体中使用水烟和无烟烟草（SLT）相关的社会人口学和行为因素。
2008 年，南非两所医学院的 2 年级和 6 年级本科医学生（N=722）完成了一份自我管理的问卷。获得了有关是否使用过以及当前使用水烟和 SLT 的信息，以及有关社会人口学变量、酒精使用和吸烟状况的信息。采用多因素逻辑回归分析确定与当前使用水烟和 SLT 相关的因素。
研究参与者的平均年龄为 23 岁。参与者中，53%为女性，55%自认为是非洲黑人。在研究参与者中，18.6%是当前水烟使用者，3.1%是当前 SLT 使用者，而 17.3%是当前吸烟者。与当前水烟使用独立相关的因素包括有酒精使用问题（比值比[OR] = 2.43；95%置信区间[CI] = 1.48-3.40）、当前吸烟（3.40；2.04-5.67）和报告在家庭以外的地方暴露于吸烟（2.51；1.29-4.90）。与黑人学生相比，白人医学生过去一个月吸烟的可能性更高（3.14；1.74-5.70），但使用 SLT 的可能性更低（0.37；0.19-0.73）。
这些发现表明，替代烟草产品的使用在南非医学生中很常见，可能是冒险行为模式的一部分。此外，在某些烟草产品的使用方面似乎存在文化差异。
