| Summary: | 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.
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