Prevalence and Pattern of Dokha Use Among Medical and Allied Health Students in Ajman, United Arab Emirates

Globally, tobacco is considered to be one among the leading causes of death. Dokha is a mixture of Iraniantobacco with aromatic leaf and bark herbs, smoked in a small pipe termed a Midwakh thought to have originatedin the Arabian Peninsula. The present study aimed at evaluating the prevalence and pattern of dokha use amongMedical University students. Prior to participation in the study, the students were provided with information on thepurpose of the study and also assured that confidentiality would be maintained. A self-administered questionnairewas then utilized for collection of data which were processed using Excel spread sheet and analysed using PASW17. A total of 104 students between 17 and 27 years of age participated, 75% of the respondents being females.The prevalence of dokha smoking was higher among male participants than females. Among dokha smokers,the majority (18.6%) were from the College of Allied Health Sciences. 11.5% reported as being lifetime smokersof dokha and 25% had smoked dokha daily over the past month. We conclude that dokha use among our targetpopulation is common and hence favor developmentn of an anti-smoking program for university students.