Smoking Trends: A Cross Sectional Study in Dengkil, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

It is estimated that more than 27,200 of Malaysians’ deaths annually are related to smoking. Majority of the smokers start smoking at the early age, smoke more than 15 years and spend less than RM 100 for cigarettes in a month. So, this study aims to determine the trend of smoking among smokers in a residential area in Dengkil, Sepang, Selangor. A cross-sectional study was conducted among Malaysian, aged more than 18-year-old with a combination of stratified, systematic and simple random sampling. Respondents who fulfill the inclusion & exclusion criteria were interviewed using a validated questionnaire and data were analysed using SPSS. The prevalence of current smoker was 23.5% with higher among male (50.7%), single (31.0%) and self-employed (44.1%). Peer pressure plays important role in either to start or to quit from smoking. It is important to increase awareness program primarily in educational institutions such as schools and colleges. Keywords: smoking, trend, prevalence, sub-urban, Selangor, Malaysian.