American Journal of Health Research

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A Pilot Community-Based Study on Association of Khat (Catha edulis) Chewing Practice with Psychosis in Yemen

Received: 22 February 2015    Accepted: 04 March 2015    Published: 16 March 2015
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Abstract

Community-based studies on association of khat (Catha edulis) chewing practice with psychological problems among the ethnic users in Yemen have been strongly recommended. The present study was aimed to investigate the association of this practice with stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia in Dhamar area which is a major source of khat in Arabian Peninsula. A cross-sectional study with a pre-tested questionnaire was carried out among 148 khat users and 150 non-users of khat. The psychological health outcomes (stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia) were measured by self-assessment method. The estimated risks to predict the probability that participants would develop stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia according to their khat chewing were examined using the Poisson regression model incorporating the robust estimator. Association of sleep disturbances and anorexia with stress weas also evaluated. The findings of the present study showed that stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia were found to be increased significantly (P ˂ 0.001) by 8.97, 9.28, and 7.28 times among the khat users, respectively. Accordingly, sleep disturbances and anorexia were significantly associated with stress (PR = 3.03; P ˂ 0.001, PR = 2.33; P ˂ 0.001, respectively). The results of this survey increase the need for attention among the regarded professionals about this harmful habit that can defect present and future of Yemeni people dramatically. However, more longitudinal researches pertaining to the contributory causal relationship of khat with psychosis are particularly needed.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajhr.20150302.16
Published in American Journal of Health Research (Volume 3, Issue 2, March 2015)
Page(s) 91-96
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Khat Chewing Practice, Psychosis, Stress, Sleep Disturbances, Anorexia, Yemen

References
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Author Information
  • Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Thamar University, Dhamar, Yemen

  • Department of Medical Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Thamar University, Dhamar, Yemen

  • Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Thamar University, Dhamar, Yemen

  • Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Thamar University, Dhamar, Yemen

  • Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Thamar University, Dhamar, Yemen

  • Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Thamar University, Dhamar, Yemen

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Abdullatif Daiffallah Ali, Abdulelah Hussien Al-Adhroey, Abdulqawi Ali Al-Shammakh, Amat Al-Khaleq Obad Mehrass, Hamoud Yahya Jaber, et al. (2015). A Pilot Community-Based Study on Association of Khat (Catha edulis) Chewing Practice with Psychosis in Yemen. American Journal of Health Research, 3(2), 91-96. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20150302.16

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    ACS Style

    Abdullatif Daiffallah Ali; Abdulelah Hussien Al-Adhroey; Abdulqawi Ali Al-Shammakh; Amat Al-Khaleq Obad Mehrass; Hamoud Yahya Jaber, et al. A Pilot Community-Based Study on Association of Khat (Catha edulis) Chewing Practice with Psychosis in Yemen. Am. J. Health Res. 2015, 3(2), 91-96. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20150302.16

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    AMA Style

    Abdullatif Daiffallah Ali, Abdulelah Hussien Al-Adhroey, Abdulqawi Ali Al-Shammakh, Amat Al-Khaleq Obad Mehrass, Hamoud Yahya Jaber, et al. A Pilot Community-Based Study on Association of Khat (Catha edulis) Chewing Practice with Psychosis in Yemen. Am J Health Res. 2015;3(2):91-96. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20150302.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajhr.20150302.16,
      author = {Abdullatif Daiffallah Ali and Abdulelah Hussien Al-Adhroey and Abdulqawi Ali Al-Shammakh and Amat Al-Khaleq Obad Mehrass and Hamoud Yahya Jaber and Hadi Mohammed Mujlli},
      title = {A Pilot Community-Based Study on Association of Khat (Catha edulis) Chewing Practice with Psychosis in Yemen},
      journal = {American Journal of Health Research},
      volume = {3},
      number = {2},
      pages = {91-96},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajhr.20150302.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20150302.16},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajhr.20150302.16},
      abstract = {Community-based studies on association of khat (Catha edulis) chewing practice with psychological problems among the ethnic users in Yemen have been strongly recommended. The present study was aimed to investigate the association of this practice with stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia in Dhamar area which is a major source of khat in Arabian Peninsula. A cross-sectional study with a pre-tested questionnaire was carried out among 148 khat users and 150 non-users of khat. The psychological health outcomes (stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia) were measured by self-assessment method. The estimated risks to predict the probability that participants would develop stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia according to their khat chewing were examined using the Poisson regression model incorporating the robust estimator. Association of sleep disturbances and anorexia with stress weas also evaluated. The findings of the present study showed that stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia were found to be increased significantly (P ˂ 0.001) by 8.97, 9.28, and 7.28 times among the khat users, respectively. Accordingly, sleep disturbances and anorexia were significantly associated with stress (PR = 3.03; P ˂ 0.001, PR = 2.33; P ˂ 0.001, respectively). The results of this survey increase the need for attention among the regarded professionals about this harmful habit that can defect present and future of Yemeni people dramatically. However, more longitudinal researches pertaining to the contributory causal relationship of khat with psychosis are particularly needed.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - A Pilot Community-Based Study on Association of Khat (Catha edulis) Chewing Practice with Psychosis in Yemen
    AU  - Abdullatif Daiffallah Ali
    AU  - Abdulelah Hussien Al-Adhroey
    AU  - Abdulqawi Ali Al-Shammakh
    AU  - Amat Al-Khaleq Obad Mehrass
    AU  - Hamoud Yahya Jaber
    AU  - Hadi Mohammed Mujlli
    Y1  - 2015/03/16
    PY  - 2015
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20150302.16
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajhr.20150302.16
    T2  - American Journal of Health Research
    JF  - American Journal of Health Research
    JO  - American Journal of Health Research
    SP  - 91
    EP  - 96
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8796
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20150302.16
    AB  - Community-based studies on association of khat (Catha edulis) chewing practice with psychological problems among the ethnic users in Yemen have been strongly recommended. The present study was aimed to investigate the association of this practice with stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia in Dhamar area which is a major source of khat in Arabian Peninsula. A cross-sectional study with a pre-tested questionnaire was carried out among 148 khat users and 150 non-users of khat. The psychological health outcomes (stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia) were measured by self-assessment method. The estimated risks to predict the probability that participants would develop stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia according to their khat chewing were examined using the Poisson regression model incorporating the robust estimator. Association of sleep disturbances and anorexia with stress weas also evaluated. The findings of the present study showed that stress, sleep disturbances, and anorexia were found to be increased significantly (P ˂ 0.001) by 8.97, 9.28, and 7.28 times among the khat users, respectively. Accordingly, sleep disturbances and anorexia were significantly associated with stress (PR = 3.03; P ˂ 0.001, PR = 2.33; P ˂ 0.001, respectively). The results of this survey increase the need for attention among the regarded professionals about this harmful habit that can defect present and future of Yemeni people dramatically. However, more longitudinal researches pertaining to the contributory causal relationship of khat with psychosis are particularly needed.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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