Public Understanding on Rip Currents and Beach Safety at Teluk Cempedak Recreational Beach of Pahang, Malaysia

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the public understanding of rips currents at Teluk Cempedak Recreational Beach of Pahang, Malaysia, from November 2020 to March 2021 via a questionnaire survey. Convenient sampling was used to collect data from 300 respondents. The questionnaire consisted of 24 questions, encompassing five sections, i.e., the demographic background, frequency of visiting the beach, swimming ability, their knowledge of rip currents, and understanding of beach safety. Associations between the study variables and the knowledge of both rip currents and beach safety were evaluated using the independent sample t-test, Chi-square test, and multiple logistic regressions at the confidence level of 0.05. In general, only 86% of the respondent knew about the rip currents. For beach safety knowledge, 83% of the respondents on the lifeguard facilities, 44% for the yellow red-flag and 93.7% for the red flag. Variables such as gender (knowledge of rip currents: Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 0.647, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.487 - 0.60, p = 0.003; beach safety: AOR = 0.665, 95% CI = 1.14 - 5.02, p = 0.021), locality (knowledge of rip currents: AOR = 2.482, 95% CI = 1.407 - 4.380, p = 0.002, beach safety: AOR = 1.821, 95% CI = 1.022 - 3.245, p = 0.042), and respondents’ experience of having problems in water activities (knowledge of rip currents: AOR = 0.170, 95% CI = 0.635 - 6.379, p = 0.000) were significantly associated with the knowledge of both rip currents and beach safety. Further studies are essential to enhance public understanding of rip currents and hence the beach safety in Malaysia.

Subjective knowledge in open water activities: Scale development and validation

“…To develop a valid and reliable scale, this study followed Hinkin et al's scale development procedure, 46 consisting of seven steps: (a) generating the initial item, (b) assessing content adequacy, (c) developing a questionnaire, (d) conducting factor analysis, (e) evaluating reliability, (f) determining construct validity, and (g) repeating the previous process with a new data set. More specifically, first, we developed 27 initial items based on relevant studies in OWA and safety, [47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59] subjective knowledge, 10,14,20,21,23,27,59,60 and leisure participation. [61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70] Second, this study assessed the adequacy of the item contents.…”