Consumo de tabaco en pipa de agua en estudiantes españoles de secundaria y bachillerato de la provincia de las palmas

Introduction. Waterpipe consumption is a worldwide phenomenon, especially among adolescents and young adults. There is data on its distribution in various European countries but Spain is not among them. Objective. To estimate the prevalence and to obtain the pattern of waterpipe tobacco consumption in secondary education and high school in Spanish students. Method. The study was carried out in 1770 students from the Province of Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain. To estimate the size of the sample, each academic block was stratified by geographic areas, grouping the students in as many clusters as groups there were in each centre and each course. Instrumental data was an ad hoc questionnaire designed for this study. Statistical analysis included a descriptive study (SPSS 17.0 Windows program). The study of the proportions was calculated using Chi-Square (χ2) test. Results. Our results show a waterpipe tobacco consumption in 33.7% of all the students, being this consumption higher in girls from first course of high school who had a weekly income of more than 5 €. The pattern of consumption in our students was monthly (43.3%), every weekend (89.4%), and in a friend’s house (46.9%) and in parks (38.2%). Conclusion. The considerable prevalence of this type of smoker among Canarian adolescents suggests a possible underestimation of the smoking frequency among Spanish adolescents.