Abstract
INTRODUCTIONPredicting susceptibility to e-cigarette (EC) initiation among adolescents is crucial to optimize preventive measures before the health risk behavior persists through adulthood. The identification of susceptible groups is needed in response to the surge of EC use. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants associated with EC susceptibility among tobacco product naïve (never users of any single tobacco product) school-going adolescents in Malaysia.METHODSData were derived from the Tobacco and EC Survey among Malaysians (TECMA), which recruited a total of 13162 school-going adolescents aged 10– 19 years from 138 randomly selected schools via a two-stage stratified cluster sampling design. A validated self-administered questionnaire adapted from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey was utilized as the study instrument. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.0 descriptively and with multivariable logistic regression to determine the associated factors of EC susceptibility.RESULTSAbout 15.7% of the tobacco naïve adolescents were susceptible to EC initiation, with the proportion of susceptibility significantly higher among males, mid-adolescents, rural adolescents, those reporting exposure to tobacco advertisement and those not taught in school about the danger of tobacco use. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that the male students (AOR=2.20; 95% CI: 1.86–2.59) from a rural locality (AOR=1.45; 95% CI: 1.23–1.71), those reporting no lessons on the danger of tobacco use at school (AOR=1.66; 95% CI: 1.39–1.99) and those exposed to tobacco advertisement (AOR=1.67; 95% CI: 1.07–2.61), were more susceptible to EC initiation, while no significant association was found between secondhand smoke exposure and EC susceptibility.CONCLUSIONSComprehensive EC preventive strategies are critically needed together with the implementation of targeted, gender, and culturally impressionable interventions. In addition, future studies should focus on the evaluation of the impacts of the preventive and control efforts to ensure their effectiveness in preventing EC initiation among Malaysian adolescents.
Highlights
Predicting susceptibility to e-cigarette (EC) initiation among adolescents is crucial to optimize preventive measures before the health risk behavior persists through adulthood
The proportion of tobacco product naïve adolescents was significantly higher among females (58.6%), those who were of Malay descent (63.2%), adolescents aged ≤12 years (42.3%), and those who lived in rural localities (51.4%) (Table 1)
Our finding is lower compared to a number of regions in the US which reported a range of EC susceptibility of 24–45%8,19,20, to rural Appalachia with 29.1%21, and rural Poland with 68%22
Summary
Predicting susceptibility to e-cigarette (EC) initiation among adolescents is crucial to optimize preventive measures before the health risk behavior persists through adulthood. Anti-tobacco legislation governing the sale and use of non-nicotine ECs is absent, to date. Wong et al.[2] reported that at least two-thirds of EC users in Selangor State were able to obtain nicotine e-liquid from EC retail, online stores, black market, and even self-made. The tobacco control landscape has been strengthened by preventive and control measures including smoke-free legislation, health warning labels, and prohibition of advertising, over the past three decades. The increased social acceptability of ECs, which influences their use among adolescents might reverse public health efforts as well as renormalize smoking behavior
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