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. 2012 Jun 18;10:126. doi: 10.1186/1479-5876-10-126

Table 2.

The mean of the participants’ pulse rates in given WPS scenarios and non smoker controls

Sample Scenario Variable Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Experimental group
Before smoking
Pulse-1
80.23
13.93
1.677
Immediately after smoking
Pulse-2
94.90
15.38
1.851
Half hour after smoking
Pulse-3
87.18
14.39
2.036
Before smoking
Saturation-1
97.90
.60
.072
Immediately after smoking
Saturation- 2
97.32
1.55
.186
Half an hour after smoking
Saturation −3
97.38
1.05
.148
Control group
Before exam
Pulse-1
82.50
11.25
2.055
Immediately after experimental group exam
Pulse-2
80.90
9.64
1.761
Half an hour after experimental group exam
Pulse-3
80.08
10.77
3.11
Before exam
Saturation-1
97.57
.94
.171
Immediately after experimental group exam
Saturation −2
97.63
.96
.176
  Half an hour after experimental group exam Saturation-3 97.75 .45 .131

Table 2 Presents the mean of the pulse rate and the level of blood oxygenation (saturation rate) in the three scenarios: prior to smoking a Water-Pipe, immediately following smoking and half an hour subsequent to WPS in experimental group comparing to non smokers control group. In the experimental group, immediately following WPS, a statistically significant increase (Table 3) in the pulse rate was observed - from 80 to 95 (t = 11.84, p < 0.05), while in the control group a significant decrease in the pulse rate was observed - from 83 to 81. Other important results is that in the experimental group - even half an hour after Water-Pipe smoking, the pulse rate continues to be higher than that prior to Water-Pipe smoking, and the difference between the two scenarios is statistically significant (t = 5.54, p < 0.05). While in the control group, no significant change in the pulse rate was observed. In the experimental group immediately following WPS, the saturation level decreased from 97.9 to 97.32, and the decrease is statistically significant (t = 3.01, p < 0.05); while in the control group, the no significant change in the saturation rate was observed. Furthermore, in the experimental group, half an hour after WPS, the saturation rate continued to be higher than that prior to WPS and the difference is statistically significant (t = 3.02), while in the control group, no change in the saturation rate was observed half an hour subsequent to experimental group smoking a Water-Pipe.