TY - JOUR T1 - Belief about harmfulness of smoking waterpipe (shisha) as compared to cigarette smoking JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 42 IS - Suppl 57 SP - P1049 AU - Maria Malik AU - Umair Misbah AU - Quratul Ain Malik AU - Ashok Kumar AU - Shaista Ghazal AU - Nadeem Rizvi Y1 - 2013/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P1049.abstract N2 - BACKGROUND:There is an increasing trend of smoking shisha amongst young people all over the world including Pakistan,without knowing its hazardous effects.OBJECTIVE: To assess belief about harmfulness of smoking shisha as compared to cigarette smoking as per view of public.METHODOLOGY:A questionnaire formed with the help of Chest Health and Education Society, was filled from 123 Pakistani students of age group 16-35 years. Subjects included shisha and cigarette smokers and non smokers.Result: Analysis showed that 71% of cigarette and 56% of shisha users knew about its contents while rests were unaware. Shisha was more popular in 16-28 years of age group while people above 28 years prefer cigarette smoking. Among females,41% were found to be inclined towards shisha while 8% towards cigarette.For 20.3% subjects shisha was sign of modernization and social tool while 9.7% thought cigarette reduces stress.More people(19.5%) were comfortable in smoking shisha in front of their families while only 1.6% cigarette users had this comfort level.On questioning about quitting shisha,50.4% were not sure of the answer while 24.3% did not want to. With cigarette smoking, 31.7% people wanted to quit (p <0.05). On questioning about parental consent, 80% parents forbade cigarette smoking but only 20% were against shisha use (p <0.05).Conclusion.Shisha in today‘s world is considered a recreational tool rather than a drug; hence its popularity is reaching new heights.Parents permit their children to smoke shisha but shun cigarettes. Electronic media should put a ban on its advertisement and spread awareness regarding different forms of tobacco smoking. ER -