ABSTRACT
Objective: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Malaysia with the objectives of determining the prevalence of smoking in Malaysia, reasons for starting to smoke, age first started to smoke, duration of smoking and to determine the relationship between smoking and age, sex,race, education level, peer influence and parental smoking status. Methods:All residents aged 18 years and above from selected households were included in this study. A standardised pre-tested structured questionnaire was used in this study. Results: The results showed that the overall mean age of the 17.246 respondents was 38.8 (95% CI=38.5-39.2) years with a range of 18-100 years. The majority were Malays (55.5%) followed by Chinese (21.2%) and Indians (11.2%). The age , sex and ethnicity adjusted prevalence of ever and current smokers were 32.0% and 24.9% respectively. The prevalence of ever and current smokers for males was 59.3% and 47.2% respectively. For the females,the prevalence of ever and current smokers was 4.8% and 2.7% respectively. The highest ethnicity adjusted prevalence of current smokers was in Malays (28.9%) followed by the Chinese (18.7%). The lowest prevalence was amongst the Indians (16.8%). The highest prevalence of current smokers was found in Kelantan (30.2%), Terengganu (29.7%), Pahang (28.7%) and Kedah (26.9%); the lowest prevalence was in Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory (20.4%). The overall mean initiation age of current smokers was 19.2 years (95% CI=19.1. 19.4 years). The mean initiation age of male current smokers was significantly lower (18.9 years) compared to female current smokers(24.1 years). The mean duartion of smoking amongst the current smokers was 18.6 years .Males smoked significantly more cigarettes than the females (p<0.001). Discussion: Multivirate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking was significantly associated with age, sex, ethnicity, educational level and peer and family influence.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Drug addiction poses a significant threat to the health, social and economic fabric of families, communities and nations. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with drug addiction amongst Malaysian males. Methods: A population-based case control study was carried out in Johor state. Cases were defined as confirmed male drug dependents aged 15 and above. Controls were defined as those aged 15 and above who had never used illegal drugs in their lifetime. A total of 1016 cases were selected at random from a list obtained from the state anti-drug agency and 1106 controls were sampled from a population-based sampling frame. After obtaining verbal consent, they were interviewed by trained graduates. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed using StataV8.2. The final model was adjusted for smoking, age, alcohol consumption, importance of religion, ethnicity, education level and self-esteem. Results: The final model had good fit (p>0.05) and good discrimination (AUC=0.94). Compared with those aged 15-19 years, the highest risk was amongst the 20-29 years age group (adjusted OR(aOR) 7.2; 95%CI=3.8,13.7) followed by the 30-39 year age group (aOR 5.4; 95%CI=2.9, 10.2) and 40-49 year age groups (aOR 5.0;95%CI=2.6,9.8). Being an ever-smoker was highly associated with drug addiction (aOR 98.7; 95%CI=28.7, 339.5). Compared with the Chinese, Malays (aOR 7.4;95%CI=4.9,11.2) and Indians (aOR 3.8;95%CI=2.1,7.0) had a higher risk of drug addiction. Drug addiction was associated with disagreeing "that religion is important as guidance in their life" (aOR 16.2;95%CI=8.3,31.9), and a histor of alcohol consumption (aOR 7.6; 95%CI=5.6,10.4). Conclusion: In conclusion the important risk factors associated with drug addiction is smoking, ethnicity, age, education level, alcohol consumption and not giving importance to religion as guidance in their life.However an increased self-esteem (aOR 0.6;95%CI=0.4,0.5) is protective against drug addiction.
ABSTRACT
Overweight and obesity place children and adolescents at increased risk of significant health problems, both during their early life and adult life. A crosssectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of overweight among secondary school students aged 13-17 years in the Klang district and to determine the association between overweight and age, sex, ethnicity, religion and blood pressure. Random cluster proportionate to size sampling technique was used to select the respondents. Weight was recorded using TANITA model HD-309 and height was measured using SECA Body meter Model 208. A mercury sphygmomanometer was used to measure blood pressure manually. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 13. Out of the 3,333 respondents, 11.4% were found to be at risk of overweight and 8.2% were overweight. The prevalence of overweight was significantly higher in the males (10.6%) as compared to females (6.0%). Prevalence of overweight was highest in Malays (10.7%) followed by the Indians (7.1%) and the Chinese (5.9%). Prevalence of ‘risk of overweight’ was highest in the Indians (13.7%) followed by Chinese (12.0%) and Malays (9.8%). There was a moderate direct significant relationship between overweight and systolic blood pressure (r=0.5, r2=0.25, p<0.001) and also diastolic blood pressure (r=0.42, r2=0.18, p<0.001). The relationship between BMI and overweight was very weak (r=0.11, r2=0.01 and df=3331, p<0.001). In conclusion the prevalence of overweight among the secondary school students is high and there is a need for a comprehensive integrated population-based intervention program.