Support of smoking restriction in public areas among adolescents in Malaysia-The findings from Tobacco and E-Cigarette Survey among adolescents in Malaysia (TECMA)

ABSTRACT

Introduction@#Adolescents are the future generation, and their support for smoke-free policies might create momentum for future stringent smoke-free initiatives. This study aimed to determine the levels and factors associated with support for smoking in public areas among Malaysian school-going adolescents aged 10-19 years@*Methods@#The data were derived from the Tobacco and E-cigarettes among adolescents in Malaysia (TECMA), which employed the cross-sectional study design and multistage sampling to select the representative samples of school-going adolescents. Data was obtained through self-administered of pre-validated questionnaire. Descriptive study, cross-tabulation and multivariable analysis were used for analysis@*Conclusion@#The level of support for smoke-free initiative in public areas was high among youths in Malaysia, and this might offer promising prospects to expand the non-smoking areas to more public areas in the future.