A poll conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that more Pitt students have smoked tobacco from a hookah, or water pipe, than had smoked cigarettes, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Sept. 7.

Researchers found that 41 percent of the 647 students surveyed said they had smoked a hookah, compared to 39.6 percent who said they had ever smoked a cigarette. Among those who had previously smoked a hookah within the past year, 88 percent said they would do so again.

"I'd say the most surprising (finding) is that the proportion who ever used (hookahs) is every bit as common as cigarette use," said researcher Brian Primack, who also said the fact that 35 percent of hookah smokers had never tried cigarettes was also an important -- and troubling -- finding.

"(Hookahs) are reaching a group of young people who otherwise would have been nicotine- and tobacco-naive," he said. "We don't really know what the implication of that is. Some people might say that it wouldn't make a difference: Somebody who is exposed to a few water pipe sessions, that might not change their risk of later using tobacco products. But I think there are a lot of researchers who would be concerned and say that even intermittent exposure at this age to nicotine and tobacco will increase their likelihood of becoming addicted to nicotine and continuing to the same."

Among students surveyed who never had smoked a hookah, 20 percent said they intended to do so.

Hookahs have been used for centuries in the Middle East to smoke tobacco, but have grown increasingly popular on U.S. college campuses in recent years. Three-quarters of students surveyed said they believed smoking a hookah was less addictive than smoking cigarettes, and almost half believed (incorrectly) that smoking a hookah was less harmful than smoking cigarettes.

The research appears in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.