An online survey of Malaysian long-term e-cigarette user perceptions
Introduction: The use of e-cigarettes (EC) has reached alarming proportions among Malaysians. On a national level, little is known about the profile and perceptions of Malaysian EC users. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of long-term EC usage and its associated factors among EC users in Malaysia.
Methods: This nationwide online questionnaire survey was administered among 694 EC users across 13 states and 1 Federal Territory in Malaysia, between January and April 2018. A survey link was e-mailed to EC users that were recruited from an official national vape entity through their Facebook association page. We obtained information on respondents' sociodemographic characteristics, smoking habits, long-term e-cigarette usage and perceptions of EC use. We estimated long-term EC user prevalence and fitted multivariate regression models to predict factors associated with long-term EC usage. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
Results: Respondents were predominantly Malays (87.6%), aged >30 years (68.1%) and tertiary educated (71%). The majority were employed (93.1%) with a monthly household income of MYR 4000 or less (56.6%). About 84% were former smokers, while 10% were current smokers. The prevalence of long-term EC usage in this study was 82.3%. Most users believed that EC had helped them to cut down tobacco smoking (94.8%), reduced the urge to smoke (88.3%) and ultimately helped them to quit smoking (87.2%). Respondents aged >30 years and those who perceived that EC has helped them stop smoking were significantly more likely to be long-term EC users.
Conclusions: Most respondents engaged in EC use to quit smoking. They were more likely to be long-term EC users if they were older and perceived that EC has helped them to quit smoking. This information is valuable for targeted prevention, health promotion and policy regulations.
Funding
RCSI UCD Malaysia Campus (Grant No. PMCRC-20)
History
Comments
The original article is available at https://www.tobaccoinduceddiseases.org/Published Citation
Abdulrahman SA, Ganasegeran K, Loon CW, Rashid A. An online survey of Malaysian long-term e-cigarette user perceptions. Tob Induc Dis. 2020;18:26.Publication Date
30 March 2020External DOI
PubMed ID
32292316Department/Unit
- RCSI + UCD Malaysia Campus (RUMC)
Publisher
European Publishing on behalf of International Society for the Prevention of Tobacco Induced Diseases (ISPTID)Version
- Published Version (Version of Record)