Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40995211›Full record

ArticleJournal of health monitoring2025

Waterpipe use in Germany (2018 - 2024): Prevalence and sociodemographic differences in age of initiation.

Stephanie Klosterhalfen, Wolfgang Viechtbauer, Daniel Kotz

Abstract read
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Article in Journal of health monitoring, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Stephanie KlosterhalfenHeinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Centre for Health and Society (chs), Addiction Research and Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Institute of General Practice (ifam), Düsseldorf, Germany.
Wolfgang ViechtbauerMaastricht University, Mental Health and Neuroscience Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Daniel KotzHeinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Centre for Health and Society (chs), Addiction Research and Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Institute of General Practice (ifam), Düsseldorf, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Waterpipe (WP) use poses not only a risk of nicotine dependence but also additional health hazards. This study examined trends in WP use in Germany, focusing on prevalence by age group and differences in initiation age. Methods: We analysed data from 76,239 respondents (≥ 14 years) from the German Study on Tobacco Use (DEBRA); a series of bi-monthly national surveys using face-to-face interviews at home (2018 - 2024). Prevalence trends were modelled using binomial logistic regression models with restricted cubic splines. Results: The prevalence of WP use decreased over time, to an estimated 0.9 % (95 % CI = 0.6 - 1.2) by mid-2024. This prevalence is made up of 0.1 % (95 % CI = 0.0 - 0.2) 14- to 17-year-olds, 0.3 % (95 % CI = 0.2 - 0.6) 18- to 24-year-olds, 0.3 % (95 % CI = 0.2. - 0.4) 25- to 39-year-olds, and 0.2 % (95 % CI = 0.1 - 0.3) people aged 40 years and older. WP use increased until 2020 up to 2.8 % (95 % CI = 2.3 - 3.4), remained stable for two years and then decreased, especially among people between 25 and 39 years of age. The proportion of 14- to 17-year-old users and users aged at least 40 years remained stable over the years at a low level. Median initiation age was 18 years (25th percentile: 16 years; 75th percentile: 22 years). A lower initiation age was associated with male gender and lower income. Conclusions: WP use increased from 2018 - 2020, stabilised from 2020 - 2022, and then decreased until 2024. Median initiation age was 18, with males and people with lower income starting at a younger age. Targeted public health interventions, focusing on younger males and those with lower socioeconomic status, are needed to prevent early use.

Indexed as

Age of initiationFace-to-face interviewsPrevalencePrevalence trendsSociodemographic differencesTobacco useWaterpipe use

Identifiers

PMID40995211
PMCPMC12456087

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.