Support for a campus tobacco-free policy among non-smokers: Findings from a developing country

• Main Authors: Fadzil, M.A (Author), Ibrahim, N. S.N (Author), Isa, M.R (Author), Ismail, Z. (Author), Majeed, A.B.A (Author), Ruzlin, A.N.M (Author), Selamat, M.I (Author), Yasin, S.M (Author), Zamhuri, M.I (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention 2016
• Subjects: adult; Adult; adverse effects; attitude to health; Attitude to Health; Campus; Cross-Sectional Studies; cross-sectional study; Developing Countries; developing country; female; Female; human; Humans; legislation and jurisprudence; Malaysia; male; Male; Non-smokers; passive smoking; questionnaire; smoking; Smoking; student; Students; Support; Surveys and Questionnaires; tobacco; Tobacco; Tobacco policy; Tobacco Smoke Pollution; tobacco use; Tobacco Use; Universities; university; workplace; Workplace
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher; View in Scopus

 Background: A tobacco-free workplace policy is identified as an effective means to reduce tobacco use and protect people from second-hand smoke; however, the number of tobacco-free policies (TFP) remains very low in workplaces in Malaysia. This study explored the factors affecting support for a tobacco-free policy on two healthcare campuses in Malaysia, prior to the implementation of TFP. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 286 non-smokers from two healthcare training centres and two nearby colleges in Malaysia from January 2015 to April 2015. A standardized questionnaire was administered via staff and student emails. The questionnaire collected information on sociodemographic characteristics, support for a tobacco-free policy and perceived respiratory and sensory symptoms due to tobacco exposure. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the independent effects of supporting a tobacco-free campus. Results: The percentage of individuals supporting completely tobacco-free facilities was 83.2% (N=238), as opposed to 16.7% (N=48) in support of partially tobacco-free facilities. Compared to the supporters of partially tobacco-free facilities, non-smokers who supported completely tobacco-free health facilities were more likely to be female, have higher education levels, to be very concerned about the effects of other people smoking on their health and to perceive a tobacco-free policy as very important. In addition, they perceived that tobacco smoke bothered them at work by causing headaches and coughs and, in the past 4 weeks, had experienced difficulty breathing. In the multivariate model, after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and other factors, only experiencing coughs and headaches increased the odds of supporting a completely tobacco-free campus, up to 2.5- and 1.9-fold, respectively. Conclusions: Coughs and headaches due to other people smoking at work enhances support for a completely tobacco-free campus among non-smokers.