https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9788-0379
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Abstract
Introduction
E-cigarette use has been on the rise among children and adolescents. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of the health hazards and laws regarding e-cigarette use among parents in Saudi Arabia. In addition, we evaluated the effect of parental smoking on parent’s knowledge.
Methods
This study was conducted with parents of children below 18 years of age in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Jeddah was divided into four areas (north, south, east, and west) and in each area, the largest shopping mall was selected. Data were gathered using a self-administered questionnaire.
Results
Out of 1386 parents, 61.7% were smokers, 13.3% reported that their children used e-cigarettes, and 73.6% did not discuss e-cigarette use with their children. In total, 77.3% of parents thought it was important to be educated about e-cigarette use. However, their ability to discuss e-cigarette use with their children was 13.9% lower than their ability to discuss regular cigarette smoking with their children. Parents who were smokers were more accepting of their children using e-cigarettes (P<0.0001). Mothers who smoked were more accepting than fathers of their children using e-cigarettes (P<0.0001).
Conclusion
Parents reported a lack of knowledge and attitudes regarding e-cigarette use. Parental smoking, especially among mothers, was statistically significantly related to their e-cigarette use knowledge and attitudes. Parents agreed that it was important to educate parents regarding e-cigarette use.
Acknowledgment
I would like to acknowledge Rawaa Abduljabbar who participated in data entry.
Data Sharing Statement
Extra data are available by emailing the corresponding author “HJS”.
Ethical Statement
Ethical approval was obtained from the ethics committee of KAUFD (132-11-18).
Author Contributions
Heba Sabbagh: Designing the study, acquisition, preforming the analysis, and interpretation of data. Contributed in writing and editing the manuscript. Mona Hassan: edited the manuscript. Layla Khogeer: Contributed in designing the work, collecting the data and writing the paper. Hanaa Allaf: Contributed in, collecting the data and writing the paper.
All authors made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; took part in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; gave final approval of the version to be published; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest for this work.