Prevalence of and factors associated with smoking among staff in Universiti Putra Malaysia

Approximately six million people are killed globally by tobacco every year. One person dies every six seconds as a result of tobacco use making it the cause of every one out of 10 deaths in adults and the single largest and leading cause of preventable death in the world. In Malaysia, tobacco use accounts for about 10,000 deaths yearly. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of smoking among staff of Universiti Putra Malaysia. An analytical cross sectional study design was used and a probability proportionate to size sampling method was used to select the faculties and respondents that participated in the study.A total of 683 respondents participated in the study with a response rate of 95.3%. The overall smoking prevalence was 10.0%. The prevalence of smoking among males and females was 26.5% and 0.5% respectively. A significant association was found between smoking status and gender, religion, marital status, highest educational level, occupation, monthly family income, self esteem, anxiety, knowledge on hazards due to smoking and attitude against smoking. Majority of current smokers (63.2%) and former smokers (66.7%) initiated smoking by trying it for fun. The prevalence of shisha/hookah and smokeless tobacco use was 2.5% and 0.9% respectively. Overall, 21.7% of university staff who are non smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke at home and 82.7% of these non smokers that are exposed to secondhand smoke are females. Male gender, SPM/STPM educational level, daily and monthly exposure to secondhand smoke at home and negative attitude against smoking were significant predictors of smoking (p<0.05). In conclusion, smoking prevalence among university staff of Universiti Putra Malaysia was considerably low compared to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, Malaysia report, 2011. Nevertheless, it still constitutes a major problem as smoking still takes place in the university environment. Although, majority (85.2%) of university staff have a good knowledge on hazards due to tobacco, it is paramount that the university authorities implement and enforce smoke-free policies in the university.

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