Smoking prevalence, exposure to secondhand smoke, and factors associated with smoking among medical, dental, and pharmacy students in a public university in Malaysia
Introduction Smoking among medical, dental, and pharmacy students is an issue in every university worldwide, which will impact future smoking cessation services as they are future healthcare providers. This study investigates the smoking prevalence, exposure to secondhand smoke, and factors associat...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
European Publishing
2024-07-01
|
| Series: | Tobacco Induced Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tobaccoinduceddiseases.org/Smoking-prevalence-exposure-to-secondhand-smoke-and-factors-associated-with-smoking,185751,0,2.html |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Introduction
Smoking among medical, dental, and pharmacy students is an issue in
every university worldwide, which will impact future smoking cessation services
as they are future healthcare providers. This study investigates the smoking
prevalence, exposure to secondhand smoke, and factors associated with smoking
among medical, dental, and pharmacy students at a public university in Malaysia.
Methods
The self-administered online survey utilized in this cross-sectional study
was derived from the Global Health Professions Students Survey (GHPSS), which
involved medical, dental, and pharmacy students. A total of 328 participants
completed a questionnaire from June to August 2022, with a response rate of
91.1%.
Results
The overall smoking prevalence was 4.6% among the medical, dental, and
pharmacy students who participated in this study; 46.7% of current smokers
were exposed to secondhand smoke at home compared to 17.6% of non-smokers
(p=0.011); and 66.7% of smokers were exposed to secondhand smoke in public
compared to 40.3% of non-smokers (p=0.043). In all, 99.1% of respondents
supported the smoking ban and 46.7% of current smokers supported the smoking
ban in discos/bars/pubs, compared to 82.0% of non-smokers (p=0.002). Of the
participants, 96.6% received lessons on the danger of tobacco, and 65.5% received
smoking cessation training. Among factors associated with current smoking was
gender; male students had a 19-fold higher likelihood of smoking than female
students (adjusted odds ratio, AOR=19.25; 95% CI: 4.25–87.19, p<0.001). In
addition, home exposure to secondhand smoke was four times more common for
current smokers (OR=4.11; 95% CI: 1.43–11.79, p=0.009).
Conclusions
Although smoking prevalence was low among the students in this
study, there was a higher percentage of them exposed to secondhand smoke at
home and in public. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1617-9625 |