A medical evaluation of the use of qat in North Yemen☆

https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(83)90029-1Get rights and content

Abstract

The data presented in this paper examine the frequent statements that the regular use of the drug qat by the people of North Yemen is harmful to their health. The research strategy employed performance of blind physical examinations as well as extensive interviews with 335 females and 371 males in and around the cities of Sanaa, Taiz and Hodeida who had been selected using a quota sample. The sample was classified into heavy, light and non-chewers of the qat plant, and systematic comparisons were made. In general, few diseases or conditions occurred with enough frequency to permit detailed analysis and fewer yet were associated with qat-use. Where associations occurred, differences by sex were often strong. Conditions most strongly associated with use by both sexes were histories of gastritis and insomnia, and the general body system groupings of gastrointestinal disorders. In males the strongest associations were with the histories of anorexia, constipation, insomnia and headaches, as well as the general history of respiratory difficulties. In females strong associations were seen between qat-use and the diagnosis of acute gastritis, and histories of jaundice, bronchitis and hepatic diseases. When effects of age and residence were corrected for by Mantel-Haenszel odds ratios on these items, some of the associations were diminished even further. In general, remarkably few of the allegations regarding the direct effects of qat-use on health by Western visitors to Yemen were supported by this study.

References (17)

  • A. Getahun et al.

    Chat: coffee's rival from Harrar: Ethiopia I. Botany, cultivation and use

    Econ. Bot.

    (1973)
  • J.G. Kennedy et al.

    Qat use in North Yemen and the problem of addiction: a study in medical anthropology

    Cult. Med. Psychiat.

    (1980)
  • F. Arfaa

    Studies on schistomiasis in the Yemen Arab Republic

    Am. J. trop. Med. Hyg.

    (1972)
  • A. Bornstein

    Food and Society in the Yemen Arab Republic

    (1974)
  • R. Nyrop

    Area Handbook for the Yemens

    (1977)
  • O.J. Braenden

    Research in the chemical composition of khat

  • J. Knoll

    Studies on the central effects of (-) cathinone

  • J.A. Rosecrans et al.

    Discriminative stimulus and neurochemical mechanism of cathinone: a preliminary study

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (75)

  • Allometric equations for estimating aboveground biomass of khat (Catha edulis)-stimulate grown in agroforestry of Raya Valley, Northern Ethiopia

    2021, Heliyon
    Citation Excerpt :

    Khat plant (Catha edulis Forsk) is an evergreen tree or shrub of Celastraceae family cultivated for its stimulant leaves primarily in East Africa, southwest Arabia, and Madagascar (Kennedy et al., 1983; Lemessa, 2001).

  • Khat use and appetite: An overview and comparison of amphetamine, khat and cathinone

    2015, Journal of Ethnopharmacology
    Citation Excerpt :

    Chewing is the most common mode of administration, and fresh leaves are usually used during afternoon sessions that last two to five hours. Khat chewing has a social and cultural tradition, as it usually occurs while in company (Kennedy et al., 1983) and often runs along both family and social ties (Mahfouz et al., 2013). As with many psychoactive plants, khat continues to have a long history of indigenous traditional use, changes in use patterns due to immigration, and governmental attempts to control its use and trade (Anderson and Carrier, 2009; Gebissa, 2010; Sheikh, 2014).

  • Individual and community-level factors associated with khat (Catha edulis) use among women of reproductive age in Halaba zone, South Ethiopia: a multilevel mixed effect analysis

    2024, Frontiers in Psychiatry

  • Perceived harms and protective behavioural strategies among khat chewers: a qualitative study in Jimma, Ethiopia

    2023, Harm Reduction Journal

  • Is chewing khat associated with mental health disorders? A scoping review of the content and quality of the current evidence base

    2023, Substance Abuse: Treatment, Prevention, and Policy

  • Naturally Occurring Cathinone from Khat, Synthetic Cathinones, and Cytochrome P450

    2022, Handbook of Substance Misuse and Addictions: From Biology to Public Health
View all citing articles on Scopus
☆

This research was primarily made possible by DHEW Grant 5 R01 00974-03, under the auspices of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). Supplementary support for a prelimineary survey and for later analysis was provided by the Neuropsychiatric Institute of U.C.L.A.

For the present paper J. G. Kennedy had primary responsibility for the project as a whole, for collecting the data in Yemen, and for drafting the article. James Teague had responsibility for design of the medical aspects of the project, participated in the field research, and shared in the analysis. William Rokaw was primarily responsible for the statistical analysis and participated in the final write-up. Elizabeth Cooney assisted with computer analysis, and library research. We thank Wendy Utsuki for her careful reading of the manuscript and Vicki Stringer for her patience in typing many drafts.

In Yemen Fathy Salem Ali al Beidnay, Mohammed Al Shamy and Abdo Ali Othman each served as field director for a phase of the overall data collecting process. Judith Obermeyer, Martha Mundy, Ahmad Makky and Kalthum Ali each directed regional surveys. Thanks are also extended to the eleven physicians who did the examinations and to Muhammad Abdul Wahid, Ahmad Marwani and Qadi Ismail al Akwa for their generous assistance. Many other Yemenis participated and we are thankful for their help, even though space here does not permit a complete listing.

View full text
Copyright © 1983 Published by Elsevier Ltd.