Original Research Article
Year: 2018 | Month: January-March | Volume: 3 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 56-60
Knowledge and Perception on Tobacco Smoke Exposure towards Children in Mukim Sungai Pelek, Sepang, Selangor
Fatin Izlaili Zaini, Maisarah Mohd Abd Rashid, Nur Rusydina Ahmad Faizal, Mohamad Ashraf Hamden, Muhamad Afiq Aman, Sabariah Abd Hamid
Faculty of Medicine, Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences, Malaysia
Corresponding Author: Sabariah Abd Hamid
ABSTRACT
Tobacco contributes to nearly 6 million deaths per year and 10% is attributed to the exposure of second-hand cigarette smoke. Studies show that people have knowledge on the dangers of passive smoking. They also agreed that children were more vulnerable to passive smoking than adults. This study aims to assess the knowledge and perception of tobacco smoke exposure towards children, in Mukim Sg Pelek, Sepang, Selangor. A cross sectional study was done by using stratified, systematic and simple random sampling. The respondents that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were interviewed with a structured questionnaire. The data was analysed using SPSS. Majority of the respondents have good knowledge (89.8%) and good perception (84.1%) on dangers of tobacco smoke exposure towards children. Majority knew that tobacco smoke may influence health of the children which causes the children to be sick as they are susceptible to respiratory illness. Statistically, there was significant association between knowledge and perception towards smoke exposure. In conclusion, there was good knowledge and perception status on the risk of secondhand smoke to children in Mukim, Sg Pelek, Sepang, Selangor.
Keywords: smoking, knowledge, perception, children, Malaysia