1. Queen Mary, University of London, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, 4 Newark Street, London E1 2AT, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 207 8827374; fax: +44 (0) 207 882 5842. E-mail address: s.kassim@qmul.ac.uk,
2. University of Minnesota Medical School, 1035 University Drive, Duluth, Minnesota, USA 55812, Tel: (218) 726-7144, Fax: (218) 726-7559 e-mail: malabsi@umn.edu
Presenter(s)
Saba Kassim Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London
Abstract
Background: The chewing of khat leaves ‘amphetamine like’ amongst UK-resident Yemenis and Somalis is often associated with tobacco smoking. Aims: (1) To systematically review the medical literature on the concurrent use of khat and tobacco, (2) describe the pattern of tobacco use, and (3) assess the methods used for measuring tobacco dependence amongst khat chewers.
Methods: A preliminary search strategy was developed to retrieve studies from PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO databases. Cross-sectional and cohort studies that assessed khat chewing with reported estimates or prevalence of tobacco use were included. Articles of abstracts meeting the selection criteria were read in full.
Results: In total 177 studies were retrieved. Thirty-three were found to be duplicates. After screening, 16 studies were found to report ranges of estimate/prevalence (2.2%-78%) amongst patient khat chewers in healthcare and community populations, and in three studies patterns of tobacco smoking (regular and episodic [when chewing khat]) was reported. Three studies measured the tobacco smoking dependency amongst regular smoking chewers.
Conclusions: The estimate of regular tobacco smoking amongst khat chewers is significant. Future studies should refine measurements of tobacco smoking dependency amongst chewers. Better assessment should aid health professionals in managing and supporting tobacco smoking cessation amongst these ethnicities.
