TY - JOUR AU - Lim, Kuang Hock AU - Heng, Pei Pei AU - Lim, Hui Li AU - Cheong, Yoon Ling AU - Kee, Chee Cheong AU - Mohd Ghazali, Sumarni AU - Lim, Jia Hui PY - 2021/10/07 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Support of smoking restriction in public areas among adolescents in Malaysia-The findings from Tobacco and E-Cigarette Survey among adolescents in Malaysia (TECMA) JF - International Journal of Public Health Research JA - Int. J. Pub. Health Res. VL - 12 IS - 1 SE - Public Health Research DO - UR - https://spaj.ukm.my/ijphr/index.php/ijphr/article/view/315 SP - AB - <p><strong>Introduction: </strong>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.</p><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>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</p><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><p><strong>Result: </strong>Majority of respondents supported smoking restriction in public areas (86.3%, 95 CI 85.4-87.1). The proportion and likelihood of support of smoke-free initiative were higher among respondents with better knowledge of the harmful effects of second-hand smoke (SHS), been taught in school about the health effects of smoking, older age group (16-19 years), female, those students schooling in urban areas, Malay and other Bumiputras from Sabah and Sarawak. However, current smokers and ECV users were less likely to support smoke-free initiatives in public areas.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>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. &nbsp;</p><p>.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>smoke-free public area, level of support, school-going adolescent,smoking status, TECMA</p> ER -