Midwakh smoking as an emerging risky behavior: insight from Qatar 2022

Alternative tobacco products like midwakh are gaining popularity as potential substitutes for traditional cigarettes despite a misconception among smokers that they may be less harmful.

To determine the prevalence, knowledge, beliefs, and predictors of midwakh smoking among adult smokers in Qatar during 2022.

An analytic cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2022 to July 2022. A simple random sample (N = 1036) was employed to include participants from the list of adults 18 years and above obtained from Qatar's National Health Information System who were invited to participate in a telephone survey.

Among the 806 participants (response rate 77.8%), 9.3% were current midwakh smokers, and 5.2% had ever smoked midwakh. The majority were male (97.2%), non-Qatari (70.9%), and aged over 24 years. Additionally, 66.7% of midwakh smokers reported having at least one family member or friend who smoked any tobacco product. Reasons for midwakh use included enjoyment, experimentation, cessation of other tobacco products, affordability, and lack of odor. Moreover, 70.9% believed midwakh smoking could lead to addiction, while 66.7% perceived it as more dangerous than other tobacco products, potentially causing severe health conditions like lung cancer. Multivariable logistic regression indicated a significant association between midwakh use and nationality, with Qataris being 0.21 times less likely to smoke midwakh than non-Qataris (adjusted odds ratio of 0.214, 95% confidence interval: 1.58-4.225, p value of 0.0001).

Midwakh smoking poses health risks comparable to other tobacco products, with peer influence being significant. Urgent action is needed to heighten awareness and allocate resources for effective intervention.