Lower urinary tract symptoms among male medical students and its relationship with khat chewing habit: A...

To determine the prevalence of the khat chewing habit among male medical students and its relationship with urinary tract symptoms.

This is a cross-sectional study on male medical students at the University of Aden, Yemen, during the period 3 to 14 April 2016. The study tool was a self-administered predesigned questionnaire containing selected personal background information, habits of chewing khat, and the standard Arabic version of the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS).

A total of 220 students completed the questionnaire; 46% of them reported using khat regularly. Fifty-four (53.5%) students who chewed khat used it on a daily basis, and the vast majority of them (76%) spent more than 4 hours in a typical khat session. The main ± SD (median) IPSS of students who reported using khat was 10.48 ± 8.39 (10) compared with students who did not chew khat 2.89 ± 3.41 (2). The majority (90%) of the non-khat chewing students had a mild degree of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and none of them reported a severe degree, while 39.6%, 46.5%, and 13.9% of the khat chewing students reported mild-, moderate-, and severe-degree LUTS, respectively. There was a significant difference between khat chewing and non-khat chewing students in all LUTS (domains of IPPS symptoms), except the nocturia symptom.

The khat chewing habit is prevalent among male medical students, and it is strongly correlated with LUTS as measured by IPPS.