The use of e-cigarettes among university students in Malaysia

• Main Authors: Wan Puteh, Sharifa Ezat, Abdul Manap, Roslina, Maharani, Hassan, Ahmad, Izzah Syazwani, Idris, Idayu Badilla, Md Sham, Fariza, Yu Lin, Andrea Ban, Soo Chun, Ian, Pakri Mohamad, Mohamed Rashidi, Mokhtar, Ahmad Irdha, Zakaria, Hazli, Lee, Jing, Amer Nordin, Amer Siddiq, Ariaratnam, Suthahar, Mohd Yusoff, Mohd Zaliman
• Format: Article
• Published: International Society for the Prevention of Tobacco Induced Diseases 2018
• Subjects: R Medicine
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/20408/; https://doi.org/10.18332/tid/99539

INTRODUCTION E-cigarette use is an emerging phenomenon with increasing recognition and acceptance globally. This study aims to create a profile of e-cigarette users among university students in Malaysia. METHODS The study was conducted using a cross-sectional research involving six universities in Malaysia. A semi-structured questionnaire was distributed to 1302 randomly selected students, who either smoked cigarettes and/or e-cigarettes. The 2011 version of Global Adult Tobacco Surveys (GATS) tool was used to record the respondents’ sociodemographic data. RESULTS The study revealed that 74.9% of the respondents smoked e-cigarettes; 40.3% used both cigarettes and e-cigarettes (dual users), and 34.5% were exclusive e-cigarette users. The exclusive use of e-cigarettes was related to gender (OR=0.18, 95% CI: 0.09–0.39). Also, male respondents were the majority users (95%). Of the respondents, 75.2 % were Malays, 98.0% single and most believed they have no health problems (92.1%). Further findings revealed the occurrence of adverse effects, dizziness 14.4%, cough 14.1%, and headaches 12.4%. Overall, 57.8% of the respondents used e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool, while others consider e-cigarettes a self-image enhancing tool or as part of social activities. CONCLUSIONS Further research on the use of e-cigarettes should be conducted on a large number of respondents in other settings to augment the findings of this study, and also guide policy making on and prevention practice of e-cigarette use, among the general student population in Malaysia.