Socioeconomic factors associate with smoking among rural adult population in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

ABSTRACT Background :Smoking is the single most important cause of death. The use of tobacco in cigarettes among smokers is the leading cause of premature mortality and morbidity. Objective : The aim of the study is to determine socioeconomic factors associated with smoking among rural adult population in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Methods :A cross sectional study was carried out from 1,136 respondents by using a questionnaire which waspre-tested, and face to face interview was conducted. The questionnaire was divided into 5 separate sections which were socio-demographics characteristics, tobacco use patterns, peers and family influences, knowledge related to smoking and perception on anti-smoking programme.A multistage random sampling method was used to obtain the sample size. The target population was from District of Jempol, a rural District in state ofNegeri Sembilan.. Result :Out of 1,136 eligible respondents, a total of 998 respondents have participated in this study which made the response rate 87.85 percent.The findings showed that 45.3% of the respondents were smoker. The age range of respondents wasbetween 45 and 64 years old. 51.8% are male,married (64.6%), and with education level of secondary school (47.9%) and majority of them were Malay (95.6%) and Muslim (95.9%). Main occupation is lorry drivers (41.3%), and 96.1% of the respondents with income between RM1000-1999 (96.1%).The findings showed that the followings are important factors influencing smoking behavior among respondents: friend influence (β= 4.347, P-value= 0.001), employment status (β= 3.574, P-value= 0.001), family member (β= 2.123, P-value= 0.001), income (β= 2.066, P-value= 0.011), advertisement (β= 1.452, P-value= 0.001), marital status (β= 1.050, P-value= 0.001), education level (β= -0.549, P-value= 0.036) and knowledge (β= -2.759, P-value= 0.001).Social factors aremore important than economic factors. Conclusion :The study concluded that both social and economics factor play important role influencing respondents smoking behavior and social factors play more important role. Keywords : Smoking, Socioeconomic factors, Adult, Rural.