Profiles of risk taking behaviors among hookah smokers and associations with life satisfaction

The clustering of high-risk behaviors among different populations is growing. The current research aims to determine profiles of risk-taking behaviors among hookah smokers and associations with life satisfaction.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 424 hookah smokers. The sample was selected through multistage random sampling from five municipal districts in Ardabil city. All participants completed three sets of checklists and questionnaires. Data analysis was conducted using chi-square and latent class analysis.

Four latent classes were identified; namely, "low-risk" (27.3%), "moderate risk" (27.2%), "high-risk" (26.2%), and "very high-risk" (19.3%). After adjusting for other studied covariates, higher age significantly decreased the odds of being in the high-risk class (OR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.82-0.92) compared to the low-risk class. Similarly, having a higher life satisfaction score significantly decreased the odds of membership in high-risk (OR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.24-0.76) and very high-risk (OR = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.23-0.69) classes in comparison to the low-risk class. On the other hand, being male, compared to being female, increased the odds of membership in moderate risk (OR = 2.27, 95% CI: 1.16-4.44) and very high-risk (OR = 6.53, 95% CI: 2.56-16.60) classes compared to the low-risk class. Also, existing substance users among family members increased the odds of belonging to moderate risk (OR = 4.45, 95% CI: 3.17-9.36), high-risk (OR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.28-4.11), and very high-risk (OR = 5.25, 95% CI: 3.01-9.17) classes in comparison to the low-risk class.

Results showed that 45.5% of the participants fell under high- risk or very high-risk classes. Consequently, higher life satisfaction is often associated with lower levels of risk-taking behaviors in hookah smokers.