Evaluation of smoking prevalence, secondhand smoke exposure, attitudes of tobacco control, and smoking cessation knowledge among pharmacy and medical students in a private university, Malaysia

Background: Tobacco use is one of the leading causes of premature morbidity and mortality globally, causing over eight million deaths per year. One of the best approaches to reduce smoking-related deaths is to encourage future health-care professionals in tobacco control programs. Objectives: To assess the smoking prevalence, secondhand smoke exposure, attitudes toward tobacco control, and smoking cessation knowledge and associated factors among pharmacy and medical students in a private university in Malaysia. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted at two campuses of a private University in Malaysia, and the data were collected online using the Global Health Professionals Students Survey questionnaire and analyzed using IBM-SPSS Version 20. Results: The overall smoking prevalence was 1.6% (P = 0.009). The exposure to secondhand smoke was 21% and 39% at home and in public places, respectively. About 92% of respondents had a good attitude toward tobacco control, whereas 53.4% had good smoking cessation knowledge. However, only 39.4% of the respondents had received formal smoking cessation training. Logistic regression revealed that significant predictors toward tobacco control are the ban of tobacco sales to adolescents, ban on the advertising of tobacco products, ban of smoking in restaurants, and obtaining a specific training on cessation techniques. Conclusions: The prevalence of smoking among pharmacy and medical students was low, but exposure to secondhand smoke was higher. Most of the respondents had a positive attitude and good knowledge of smoking cessation. However, future training needs to be conducted among upcoming health-care professionals to act as a role model for community transformation.