PERCEPTION OF THE EFFECTS OF WATER PIPE SMOKING ON OSTEOPOROSIS PATIENTS AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS IN EASTERN REGION OF SAUDI ARABIA

Backgrounds: It is widely believed that waterpipe smoking (waterpipe, hookah, narghile, shisha) is not associated with health risks and it is less lethal than cigarettes smoking but several studies had documented the adverse effects of waterpipe smoking in health. Therefore, the present study aims to measure the level of perception among medical students at KFU on the effects of waterpipe smoking and the subsequent development of osteoporosis in eastern region of Saudi Arabia. It is believed water pipe smoking change the structure of bone which may lead to osteoporosis and Osteoporosis is bone disease that develops when bone mineral density and bone mass decreases , or when the quality or structure of bone changes . Methods: A cross sectional was conducted among 377 medical students of KFU, between the age group18 and above 24 years old. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire, the questionnaire was divided into three sections: the first section was about sociodemographic data. The second section consisted of three questions all related to smoking status and the third part consisted of true and false answers for16 questions to test the respondent’s knowledge and perception of waterpipe smoking and its effects on osteoporosis disease, the questions were including risk factors, diagnosis, and the management. The third part of the questionnaire, which is related to the knowledge, and had the following scoring criteria, 1 point for the correct answer and 0 point for the wrong answer and the total score out of 16 to 16 questions and the criteria was set as following groups, 1-4 poor, 5-9 moderate, 10-13 good, and 14-16 excellent knowledge. Data analyses were done using SPSS Version 20. The data was presented using chi-square for nominal data and T-test was used for numerical data. The significance level was set at p ≤ 0.05 which is considered statically significant Results: The results showed that Knowledge’s scores among KFU medical student, 18.4% from the respondents had poor knowledge, 53.4 % had moderate knowledge, 26.6 % had good knowledge and 1.6% had excellent knowledge. In conclusion, the majority of respondents had moderate knowledge of waterpipe smoking and osteoporosis. The findings may help to raise the awareness of the adverse effects of waterpipe smokers and the great risk for developing osteoporosis. Also, these results can be used for public health in water pipe prevention programs. Keywords: osteoporosis, Knowledge, water pipe smoking, medical students