Preventive Practice On Secondhand Smoke And Its Associated Factors Among Adults In A Suburban Community In Kuala Terengganu

@#Secondhand smoke (SHS) carries many health risks and is associated with diseases and premature deaths among nonsmoking adults and children. Despite many health promotions and legislative measures executed by the government to protect the public from SHS, the prevalence of SHS exposure is still high. Personal appropriate practices to avoid exposure are crucial especially at home or private area. Therefore, the current study focused on describing individual preventive practices on SHS and determining its associated factors. A cross sectional study was conducted among 250 adults in a village, Kuala Terengganu. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between all independent variables and the SHS preventive practice status. The prevalence of SHS exposure was 66.0%. Majority of the respondents (77.2%) has good knowledge on SHS. Nevertheless, despite having good knowledge, a large proportion of them showed poor attitude toward SHS (77.6%) and poor preventive practices (61.2%). Poor preventive practices on SHS were significantly associated with being older (OR­adj: 1.0206, 95% CI: 1.0004, 1.0412), female (OR­adj: 2.0644, 95% CI: 1.0753, 3.9635), smoker (OR­adj: 12.1107, 95% CI: 4.0630, 36.0991), not having existing tobacco-related morbidity (OR­adj: 3.6795, 95% CI: 1.1795, 11.4786), and poor attitude towards SHS (OR­adj: 4.1871, 95% CI: 2.0955, 8.3665). The preventive practices of SHS among the villagers were poor despite showing acceptable level of knowledge. Hence, health awareness on the potential impact of SHS to the public as well as instilling appropriate behavior for them to avoid SHS and educate smokers need to be emphasized.

Physical Inactivity Among Adults In A Rural Village Of Kuala Terengganu: Knowledge, Attitude, Social Support And It’s Associated Factors

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of physical inactivity and factors associated with it among adults in a rural village in Kuala Terengganu. A cross-sectional study was conducted among adults age 18 years and above. Data were collected via face to face interview using a set of structured questionnaire. Those who were terminally ill, mentally or physically disabled were excluded. A total of 211 adults were studied. The prevalence of physical inactivity was 46.0%. Being female, not working, having negative attitude towards physical activity and without good environmental support were found to be significantly associated with being physically inactive. Multiple factors of individual characteristic and environmental factor determine one’s physical inactivity.

Prevalence And Perceived Severity Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Flood Victims In Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

Floods can lead to direct economic and property losses and result not only in physical injuries and deaths but also in psychological trauma. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a commonly used indicator to evaluate psychological injuries after disaster. This study aimed to determine the relationship between PTSD prevalence and related perceived severity of post flood impact by economical, non-economical and flood status severity domains besides relevant socio-demographic factors according to gender specific analysis. This cross-sectional study was conducted among community in Kampung Hulu Takir, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia in 2015 two weeks after flood. It included a total of 98 males and 110 females aged 18 years and above. Data was collected by interview-guided questionnaire to determine the prevalence of PTSD. SPSS version 21.0 was used for analysis of the relationship between socio demographic factors, perceived economic, non-economic and flood severity with PTSD. Finally chi square test was used to assess the predictors of PTSD according to gender. The prevalence of PTSD was 9.2% in males and 10.9% in females, giving a total of 10.1%. Significantly higher prevalence of PTSD was found in severely perceived economic and flood impact categories (33.3% and 23.8% in males; 23.8 % and 37.5% in females) and giving in overall 44.0% and 31.3 % respectively. Effective PTSD management strategies targeting females post flood victims who severely perceived economically and nature flood impact should be implemented in order to prevent further consequences of PTSD.