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.
Published in | American Journal of Health Research (Volume 3, Issue 2) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ajhr.20150302.16 |
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), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Khat Chewing Practice, Psychosis, Stress, Sleep Disturbances, Anorexia, Yemen
[1] | N. A. Hassan, A. A. Gunaid and I. M. Murray-Lyon, "Khat (Catha edulis): Health aspects of khat chewing," East Mediterranean Health Journal, vol. 13, p. 706–718, 2007. |
[2] | S. Weir, Qat in Yemen-Consumption and Social. Changes, London: British Museum Publication, 1985. |
[3] | WHO, "Report of the WHO intercountry meeting on the health, social and economic aspects of khat," Mogadishu, Geneva: World Health Organization, 1983. |
[4] | G. Cox and H. Rampes, "Adverse effects of khat: a review," Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, vol. 9, pp. 456–463, 2003. |
[5] | A. Al-Motarreb, M. Al-Habori and K. J. Broadley, "Khat chewing, cardiovascular diseases and other internal medical problems: The current situation and directions for future research," Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 132, p. 540–548, 2010. |
[6] | N. Numan, " The Green Leaf: Khat," World Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 7, pp. 210-223, 2012. |
[7] | N. Numan, "Exploration of adverse psychological symptoms in Yemeni khat users by the Symptoms Checklist-90 (SCL-90)," Addiction, vol. 99, pp. 61–65, 2004. |
[8] | A. K. Laswar and A. K. Darwish, "Prevalence of cigarette smoking and khat chewing among Aden University medical students and their relationship to BP and body mass index," Saudi Journal of Kidney Disease and Transplantation, vol. 20, pp. 862–866, 2009. |
[9] | S. Thomas and T. Williams, "Khat (Catha edulis): A systematic review of evidence and literature pertaining to its harms to UK users and society," Drug Science, Policy and Law, vol. 1, DOI: 10.1177/2050324513498332, 201. |
[10] | Szendrei, K. (1980). The chemistry of khat. Bulletin of Narcotics, 32, pp. 5–36. |
[11] | P. Kalix, "Catha edulis, a plant that has amphetamine effects," Pharmacy World & Science, vol. 18, pp. 69–73, 1996. |
[12] | M. Odenwald, "Chronic khat use and psychotic disorders: A review of the literature and future prospects," Sucht, vol. 53, pp. 9–22, 2007. |
[13] | N. Warfa, A. Klein, K. Bhui and G. Leavey, T. Craig, and S. Alfred, "Khat use and mental illness: A critical review," Social Science and Medicine, vol. 65, pp. 309–318, 2007. |
[14] | U. Hapke, U. Maske, C. Scheidt-Nave, L. Bode, R. Schlack, and M. Busch, ".Chronic stress among adults in Germany, Results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1)," Bundesgesundheitsbl, pp. 749–754, 2013. |
[15] | D. L. Paulhus and S. Vazire, "The self-report method," in Handbook of research methods in personality psychology, New York: Guilford, 2007, pp. 224–239. |
[16] | R. B. Bendel and A. A. Afifi, "Comparison of stopping rules in forward regression," J Am Stat Assoc, vol. 72, pp. 46–53, 1977. |
[17] | R. H. H. Groenwold, O. H. Klungel, D. E. Grobbee and A. W. Hoes, "Selection of confounding variables should not be based on observed associations with exposure," Eur J Epidemiol, vol. 26, pp. 589–593, 2011. |
[18] | J. Lee, C. S. Tan and K. S. Chia, "A Practical Guide for Multivariate Analysis of Dichotomous Outcomes," Annals Academy of Medicine, vol. 38, pp. 714–719, 2009. |
[19] | M. Coutinho, M. Scazufca and P. Menezes, "Methods for estimating prevalence ratios in cross sectional studies," Rev Saúde Pública, vol. 42, pp. 1–6, 2008. |
[20] | J. Fitzgerald, "Khat: A literature review," Khat: A literature review, 2009. [Online]. Available: http://www.ceh.org.au/downloads/Khat_report_FINAL.pdf. [Accessed September 2014]. |
[21] | K. Bhui and N. Warfa, "Trauma, khat and common psychotic symptoms among Somali immigrants: a quantitative study," Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 132, pp. 549–553, 2010. |
[22] | N. Warfa, K. Bhui, K. Phillip, K. Nandy and S. Griffiths, "Comparison of life events, substance misuse, service use and mental illness among African–Caribbean, black African and white British men in east London: a qualitative study," Diversity in Health and Social Care, vol. 3, pp. 111–121, 2006. |
[23] | K. Bhui, etal, "Traumatic events, migration characteristics and psychiatric symptoms among Somali refugees-Preliminary communication," Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, vol. 38, pp. 35–43, 2003. |
[24] | M. Odenwald, etal, "Use of khat and posttraumatic stress disorder as risk factors for psychotic symptoms: a study of Somali combatants," Social Science and Medicine, vol. 69, pp. 1040–1048, 2009. |
[25] | Turning Point, "Khat Use in Somali, Ethiopian and Yemeni Communities in England: Issues and Solutions," London Home Office, 2004. |
[26] | S. L. Patel, S. Wright and A. Gammampila, "Khat use among Somalis in four English cities," 2005. [Online]. Available: http://collection.europarchive.org/tna/20080205132101/homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/rdsolr4705.pdf [Accessed October 2014]. |
[27] | D. J. Calcagnetti and M. D. Schechter, "Increase in the locomotor activity of rats after intracerebral administration of cathinone," Brain Research Bulletin, vol. 29, pp. 843–846, 1992. |
[28] | J. Zelger, H. Schorno and E. Carlini, "Behavioural effects of cathinone, an amine obtained from Catha edulis Forsk.: comparisons with amphetamine, norpseudoephedrine, apomorphine and nomifensine," Bulletin on Narcotics, vol. 32 , p. 67–81, 1980. |
[29] | M. Banjaw, K. Miczek and W. Schmidt, "Repeated Catha edulis oral administration enhances the baseline aggressive behavior in isolated rats," Journal of Neural Transmisssion, vol. 113, pp. 543–556, 2005. |
[30] | W. Hall and L. Degenhardt, "Cannabis use and the risk of developing a psychotic disorder," World Psychiatry, vol. 7, pp. 68–71, 2008. |
[31] | M. P. Fankhauser and K. C. Lee, "Eating disorders," in Applied Therapeutics: The clinical Use of Drugs, Baltimore: Lippincott Williams Wilkins, 2009. |
[32] | M. Sato, Y. Numachi and T. Hamamura, "Relapse of paranoid psychotic state in methamphetamine model of schizophrenia.," Schizophrenia Bulletin, vol. 18, pp. 115–122, 1992. |
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
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
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
@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://article.sciencepublishinggroup.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} }
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 -