Prevalence of Cigarette Smoking and Associated Factors among Secondary School Teachers in Malaysia

Objective: The smoking prevalence in Malaysia is high, especially among men and adolescents. This studyaimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors towards cigarette smoking among school teachers inMalaysia. Methodology: This study was a school-based cross-sectional study conducted among 495 secondaryschool teachers. The questionnaire used in this study consisted of 29 questions categorized into two sections:socio-demographic characteristics and smoking behaviour. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Packagefor the Social Sciences (SPSS) program 13.0. ANOVA; t-tests were used in univariate analysis; multiple linearregression was applied for multivariate analysis.
Results: The majority of the participants were female (81.6%),in the age group ranged between 30-39 years (44%), Malay (90.1%), married (89.7%), degree holders (85.1%),with monthly income ranged between 3000-3999 Ringgit Malaysia (33.5%), from urban areas (94.7%), theirspecialty is social studies (33.9%) and with no family history of cancer (83.6%). The prevalence of smokingamong school teachers in Malaysia was found to be 7.8%. Regarding reasons to start smoking among schoolteachers: the major reason was found to be relaxation (33.3%), followed by stress-relief (28.2%). Univariateanalysis showed that sex, educational status, monthly income and residency were significantly associated withsmoking among school teachers (p<0.001, p=0.004, p=0.031, p=0.010; respectively). Multivariate analysis showedthat gender and marital status were significantly associated with smoking among school teachers (p<0.001,p=0.033; respectively).
Conclusion: The prevalence of smoking among school teachers in Malaysia was foundto be relatively low. Sex, marital status, educational status, monthly income and residency were significantlyassociated with smoking among school teachers.