ReviewTobacco control2015
Waterpipe tobacco smoking: what is the evidence that it supports nicotine/tobacco dependence?
Review in Tobacco control, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers, 6 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
103 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 185 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interventions for waterpipe smoking cessation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Prevalence of hookah smoking among Iranian pupils and university students: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis.The clinical respiratory journal · 2022Pooled it
- Preventing and controlling water pipe smoking: a systematic review of management interventions.BMC public health · 2021Pooled it
- Knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions towards waterpipe tobacco smoking amongst college or university students: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2019Pooled it
- Systematic Review of Health Communication for Non-Cigarette Tobacco Products.Health communication · 2019Pooled 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
- Waterpipe Size Matters: The Effect of Waterpipe Size on Toxicant Exposures and Subjective Experiences.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Trial
- 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
- 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
- Predictors of adherence to pharmacological and behavioral treatment in a cessation trial among smokers in Aleppo, Syria.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2015Trial
- [Prevalence and associated factors of shisha consumption among middle school, high school, and university students in Labé in 2022].The Pan African medical journal · 2026Article
- Enhanced lung volumes and pressures in traditional wind instrument musicians: The case of the Mejwez.PloS one · 2026Article
- Waterpipe and Co-Use of Inhaled Nicotine and Tobacco Products: Findings from a Population-Based Cross-Sectional Household Survey in Germany.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- The expression of salivary EGF, VEGF, endothelin, and transferrin in waterpipe and cigarette smokers.Odontology · 2025Observational
- Patterns and Correlates of Tobacco Use Among PLWH in Viet Nam: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.Tobacco use insights · 2025Article
43 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
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveWaterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) involves passing tobacco smoke through water prior to inhalation, and has spread worldwide. This spread becomes a public health concern if it is associated with tobacco-caused disease and if WTS supports tobacco/nicotine dependence. A growing literature demonstrates that WTS is associated with disability, disease and death. This narrative review examines if WTS supports nicotine/tobacco dependence, and is intended to help guide tobacco control efforts worldwide. DATA SOURCES: PUBMED search using: (("waterpipe" or "narghile" or "arghile" or "shisha" or "goza" or "narkeela" or "hookah" or "hubble bubble")) AND ("dependence" or "addiction"). STUDY SELECTION: Excluded were articles not in English, without original data, and that were not topic-related. Thirty-two articles were included with others identified by inspecting reference lists and other sources. DATA SYNTHESIS: WTS and the delivery of the dependence-producing drug nicotine were examined, and then the extent to which the articles addressed WTS-induced nicotine/dependence explicitly, as well as implicitly with reference to criteria for dependence outlined by the WHO.
conclusionsWTS supports nicotine/tobacco dependence because it is associated with nicotine delivery, and because some smokers experience withdrawal when they abstain from waterpipe, alter their behaviour in order to access a waterpipe and have difficulty quitting, even when motivated to do so. There is a strong need to support research investigating measurement of WTS-induced tobacco dependence, to inform the public of the risks of WTS, which include dependence, disability, disease and death, and to include WTS in the same public health policies that address tobacco cigarettes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.