Stop Smoking Awareness Survey Among Malaysian University Students

Objectives: Malaysia with a high prevalence of youth smoking envisioned to achieve the Tobacco Endgame in 2045. This study investigates on the extent of smoking and stop smoking awareness among University Malaya (a Smoke-free campus) students
Methods: An online survey to look into initiation, habit patterns and awareness on quit smoking was conducted among currently-enrolled University Malaya students. A validated and pretested smoking questionnaire consisting of 93 items and divided into 7 sections were made accessible through their official university email addresses. Participation was voluntary. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test(p<0.5) of the first three-month-responses were analysed using SPSS Version 22.0.
Results: : A total of 744 students responded to the survey. The mean age of students was 22.3(±4.0) years with two-thirds being female (69%) respondents. In all, 20.4% respondents stated that they have ever smoked (78.9% males, 21.1% females; p=0.000). Respondents started smoking as early as 4 years old with the majority starting at 15 years old. Of those who smoked, 10.5% have quit smoking while 9.9% are still smoking. Majority who succeeded in quitting took 1–5 attempts (52.9%), 6 – 10 (17.6%), 16 – 20 (14.7%), 21 and more (8.8%), and 11 – 15 (6.0%). Most of them quit smoking based on their own personal choice (97.1%) and only 2.9% get help from government quit clinics. Two-thirds (64.7%) attempted to quit smoking using the cold turkey(without help) method, 23.5% used medications, and counselling 11.8%.
Conclusions: The results urged for more enhancement on awareness toward consequences of smoking among university students. Advocacy efforts towards the initiation of the No-Cotine Clubs in the campus is certainly relevant