Trend and Awareness of E-Cigarettes Among Students in a Private College in Sabah Malaysia

Objective: This study aims to investigate the trend and awareness of e-cigarette use among students in a private college located in Sabah, Malaysia. Research Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in a private college in Sabah. A self-administered questionnaire was adapted and distributed to 300 randomly selected students regardless of their e-cigarettes vaping status. IBM SPSS Statistic 27 was utilized to analysed accumulated data. Results: A-245 students participated in the study with a response rate of 81.6%. Majority of the respondent were female (69.8%), Bumiputera Sabah (72.2%), Diploma students (90%) aged 22-25 years’ old. The study revealed that almost all respondent was aware of e-cigarettes (89%) however low prevalence of e-cigarette use was observed (26.5%). The main source of information regarding e-cigarettes among students were found to be the internet (40.4%) and friends (38.8%). Conclusion: Further study needs to be done in a larger scale to provide comprehensive understanding on the factor influencing the use of e-cigarettes among students in higher institutions. In addition, the role of e- cigarettes that buzzed to be a smoking cessation tool need to be revised to evaluate its effectiveness. Hence, it is vital for the Malaysian authorities to establish a dynamic framework to tackle the surge of e-cigarettes use both in Peninsular and Borneo region.