SynthesisInternational journal of public health2017
Cancer risk in waterpipe smokers: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in International journal of public health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 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
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gastroesophageal disease risk and inhalational exposure a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Risk factors for gastric cancer: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Water pipe smoking and stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain and behavior · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of mental simulation of future waterpipe tobacco smoking on attitudes, perceived harms and intended use among young adults.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2022Trial
- 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
- A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Theory-Informed School-Based Intervention to Prevent Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking: Changes in Knowledge, Attitude, and Behaviors in 6th and 7th Graders in Lebanon.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Trial
- Nicotine-containing products and the cardiovascular system: mechanisms and global health implications.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2026Review
- Waterpipe use in Germany (2018 - 2024): Prevalence and sociodemographic differences in age of initiation.Journal of health monitoring · 2025Article
- Digital Marketing Strategies Used to Promote Waterpipe Tobacco Among Retailers and Manufacturers.Substance use & misuse · 2025Article
- Determining the perceived risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) among hookah users in Iran.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2024Article
- The Diversity in Tobacco Use Among Women of Reproductive Age (15-49 Years) in Pakistan: A Secondary Analysis of a Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2016-2018.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Article
- Unveiling an Association between Waterpipe Smoking and Bladder Cancer Risk: A Multicenter Case-Control Study in Iran.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2024Article
- Article
- Waterpipe Tobacco Brands and Flavors Sold Online in the USA.Substance use & misuse · 2024Article
- Waterpipe and cigarette epigenome analysis reveals markers implicated in addiction and smoking type inference.Environment international · 2023Article
- Cancer incidence in the Somali population of Olmsted County: A Rochester epidemiology project study.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Peri-Implant Inflammation in Waterpipe Users and Cigarette Smokers: An Observational Study.International dental journal · 2023Observational
- Predicting thrombotic cardiovascular outcomes induced by waterpipe-associated chemicals using comparative toxicogenomic database: Genes, phenotypes, and pathways.Life sciences · 2023Article
- Review
- Determinants of waterpipe smoking in Iranian adults: results from the IROPICAN study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
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 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo quantify by meta-analysis the relationship between waterpipe smoking and cancer, including cancer of the head and neck, esophagus, stomach, lung and bladder.
methodsWe performed a systematic literature search to identify relevant studies, scored their quality, used fixed and random-effect models to estimate summary relative risks (SRR), evaluated heterogeneity and publication bias.
resultsWe retrieved information from 28 published reports. Considering only highquality studies, waterpipe smoking was associated with increased risk of head and neck cancer (SRR 2.97; 95 % CI 2.26-3.90), esophageal cancer (1.84; 1.42-2.38) and lung cancer (2.22; 1.24-3.97), with no evidence of heterogeneity or publication bias. Increased risk was also observed for stomach and bladder cancer but based mainly on poor-quality studies. For colorectum, liver and for all sites combined risk estimates were elevated, but there were insufficient reports to perform a meta-analysis.
conclusionsContrary to the perception of the relative safety of waterpipe smoking, this meta-analysis provides quantitative estimates of its association with cancers of the head and neck, esophagus and lung. The scarcity and limited quality of available reports point out the need for larger carefully designed studies in well-defined populations.
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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.