Do adolescents under-report their smoking status? – Findings from secondary school students in Kota Tinggi, Johor

Background: The denormalisation of smoking behavior and anti-smoking measures taken to curb smoking prevalence have created an environment which might contribute to the under-reporting of smoking status among adolescents. The detection of under-reporting is crucial in ascertaining the accuracy of sm...

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Main Authors: Lim, Hui Li, Teh, Chien Huey, Kee, Cheong Chee, Ibrahim, Normala, Lim, Kuang Hock
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Community Health Society Malaysia 2017
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56791/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56791/1/Do%20adolescents%20under-report%20their%20smoking%20status%20Findings%20from%20secondary%20school%20students%20in%20Kota%20Tinggi%2C%20Johor.pdf
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author Lim, Hui Li
Teh, Chien Huey
Kee, Cheong Chee
Ibrahim, Normala
Lim, Kuang Hock
author_facet Lim, Hui Li
Teh, Chien Huey
Kee, Cheong Chee
Ibrahim, Normala
Lim, Kuang Hock
author_sort Lim, Hui Li
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: The denormalisation of smoking behavior and anti-smoking measures taken to curb smoking prevalence have created an environment which might contribute to the under-reporting of smoking status among adolescents. The detection of under-reporting is crucial in ascertaining the accuracy of smoking data, therefore this study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of under-reporting of smoking status among school-going adolescents. Materials and Methods: A total of 405 of 2700 adolescents who participated in a longitudinal study in Kota Tinggi were randomly selected and their exhaled carbon monoxide concentration was measured using a pre-calibrated carbon monoxide (CO) analyzer. The cut-off point of exhaled CO of 5 parts per million (ppm) was used to determine smoking status. A total of 343 adolescents responded (84.69%) in the study, of which 85 smokers and 8 non-smokers with recent respiratory illness were excluded from the analysis. Results: Of these 250 non-smoking adolescents, 44.6% (115) were male, and 76.4% (197) were in lower secondary school. Analysis showed that the concentration of exhaled CO among 257 adolescents (99.6%) were between 0 - 5.00ppm. In addition, the CO level of all non-smoking females and lower secondary school students were in the range of 0 - 5.00ppm. This study revealed that the under-reporting of smoking status was negligible. Conclusion: Self-reported smoking status among adolescents can be accepted as valid answers for their smoking status. However, more studies in different localities on a larger scale are warranted to determine that self-reported smoking status is a valid measurement of actual smoking status among adolescents in the country.
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spelling upm-567912017-08-04T10:07:30Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56791/ Do adolescents under-report their smoking status? – Findings from secondary school students in Kota Tinggi, Johor Lim, Hui Li Teh, Chien Huey Kee, Cheong Chee Ibrahim, Normala Lim, Kuang Hock Background: The denormalisation of smoking behavior and anti-smoking measures taken to curb smoking prevalence have created an environment which might contribute to the under-reporting of smoking status among adolescents. The detection of under-reporting is crucial in ascertaining the accuracy of smoking data, therefore this study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of under-reporting of smoking status among school-going adolescents. Materials and Methods: A total of 405 of 2700 adolescents who participated in a longitudinal study in Kota Tinggi were randomly selected and their exhaled carbon monoxide concentration was measured using a pre-calibrated carbon monoxide (CO) analyzer. The cut-off point of exhaled CO of 5 parts per million (ppm) was used to determine smoking status. A total of 343 adolescents responded (84.69%) in the study, of which 85 smokers and 8 non-smokers with recent respiratory illness were excluded from the analysis. Results: Of these 250 non-smoking adolescents, 44.6% (115) were male, and 76.4% (197) were in lower secondary school. Analysis showed that the concentration of exhaled CO among 257 adolescents (99.6%) were between 0 - 5.00ppm. In addition, the CO level of all non-smoking females and lower secondary school students were in the range of 0 - 5.00ppm. This study revealed that the under-reporting of smoking status was negligible. Conclusion: Self-reported smoking status among adolescents can be accepted as valid answers for their smoking status. However, more studies in different localities on a larger scale are warranted to determine that self-reported smoking status is a valid measurement of actual smoking status among adolescents in the country. Community Health Society Malaysia 2017 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56791/1/Do%20adolescents%20under-report%20their%20smoking%20status%20Findings%20from%20secondary%20school%20students%20in%20Kota%20Tinggi%2C%20Johor.pdf Lim, Hui Li and Teh, Chien Huey and Kee, Cheong Chee and Ibrahim, Normala and Lim, Kuang Hock (2017) Do adolescents under-report their smoking status? – Findings from secondary school students in Kota Tinggi, Johor. International Journal of Public Health and Clinical Sciences, 4 (2). pp. 66-72. ISSN 2289-7577 http://publichealthmy.org/ejournal/ojs2/index.php/ijphcs/article/view/400
spellingShingle Lim, Hui Li
Teh, Chien Huey
Kee, Cheong Chee
Ibrahim, Normala
Lim, Kuang Hock
Do adolescents under-report their smoking status? – Findings from secondary school students in Kota Tinggi, Johor
title Do adolescents under-report their smoking status? – Findings from secondary school students in Kota Tinggi, Johor
title_full Do adolescents under-report their smoking status? – Findings from secondary school students in Kota Tinggi, Johor
title_fullStr Do adolescents under-report their smoking status? – Findings from secondary school students in Kota Tinggi, Johor
title_full_unstemmed Do adolescents under-report their smoking status? – Findings from secondary school students in Kota Tinggi, Johor
title_short Do adolescents under-report their smoking status? – Findings from secondary school students in Kota Tinggi, Johor
title_sort do adolescents under-report their smoking status? – findings from secondary school students in kota tinggi, johor
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56791/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56791/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/56791/1/Do%20adolescents%20under-report%20their%20smoking%20status%20Findings%20from%20secondary%20school%20students%20in%20Kota%20Tinggi%2C%20Johor.pdf