SynthesisHarm reduction journal2013
Motives, beliefs and attitudes towards waterpipe tobacco smoking: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Harm reduction journal, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 172 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
172 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 302 citations in OpenAlex.
- Knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions towards waterpipe tobacco smoking amongst college or university students: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Interventions for waterpipe tobacco smoking prevention and cessation: a systematic review.Scientific reports · 2016Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Interventions for waterpipe smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Effect of graphic warning label on acute changes in waterpipe tobacco smoking behavior, biomarkers of exposure and harm, and subjective effects in a randomized trial.Addictive behaviors · 2026Trial
- Effects of Pictorial Health Warning Labels on Intention to Quit Waterpipe in Lebanon: A Mediation Analysis.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Trial
- Comparisons between young adult waterpipe smokers and nonsmokers' reactions to pictorial health warning labels in Lebanon: a randomized crossover experimental study.Health education research · 2023Trial
- Waterpipe Tobacco Warnings: An Experimental Study Among a Nationally Representative Sample of US Young Adults.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2021Trial
- Testing the Effects of Hookah Tobacco Social Media Risk Communication Messages Among Young Adults.Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education · 2021Trial
- Tailored Mobile Messaging Intervention for Waterpipe Tobacco Cessation in Young Adults: A Randomized Trial.American journal of public health · 2021Trial
- Trial
- The impact of a brief cessation induction intervention for waterpipe tobacco smoking: A pilot randomized clinical trial.Addictive behaviors · 2018Trial
- Characterizing Young Adults' Susceptibility to Waterpipe Tobacco Use and Their Reactions to Messages About Product Harms and Addictiveness.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Hookah Tobacco Smoking During the Transition to College: Prevalence of Other Substance Use and Predictors of Initiation.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2016Trial
- Behavioral cessation treatment of waterpipe smoking: The first pilot randomized controlled trial.Addictive behaviors · 2014Trial
- Non-cigarette tobacco cessation support in England: current provision, confidence, and barriers identified in a cross-sectional survey of healthcare professionals involved in smoking cessation support.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2026Article
- Using aggregated ethnicity categories masks inequalities in smoking prevalence in England.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Plain Packaging: One of the Plain Simple Solutions for Nicotine Reduction in the Middle East.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Review
112 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn spite of the negative health effects of waterpipe tobacco smoking, its use is becoming more common. The objective of this study is to systematically review the medical literature for motives, beliefs and attitudes towards waterpipe tobacco smoking.
methodsWe electronically searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the ISI the Web of Science in January 2012. We included both quantitative and qualitative studies. We selected studies and abstracted data using standard systematic review methodology. We synthesized data qualitatively.
resultsWe included 58 papers reporting on 56 studies. The main motives for waterpipe tobacco smoking were socializing, relaxation, pleasure and entertainment. Peer pressure, fashion, and curiosity were additional motives for university and school students while expression of cultural identity was an additional motive for people in the Middle East and for people of Middle Eastern descent in Western countries. Awareness of the potential health hazards of waterpipe smoking was common across settings. Most but not all studies found that the majority of people perceived waterpipe smoking as less harmful than cigarette smoking. Waterpipe smoking was generally socially acceptable and more acceptable than cigarette smoking in general. In Middle Eastern societies, it was particularly more acceptable for women's use compared to cigarette use. A majority perceived waterpipe smoking as less addictive than cigarette smoking. While users were confident in their ability to quit waterpipe smoking at any time, willingness to quit varied across settings.
conclusionsSocializing, relaxation, pleasure and entertainment were the main motives for waterpipe use. While waterpipe users were aware of the health hazards of waterpipe smoking, they perceived it as less harmful, less addictive and more socially acceptable than cigarette smoking and were confident about their ability to quit.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.