Department of Research, SingHealth Polyclinics, Singapore, Singapore.
Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Front Public Health. 2024 Jul 11;12:1359929. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1359929. eCollection 2024.
Early smoking initiation has been associated with a higher risk of developing long-term smoking habit. There is a growing global consensus that demands raising the minimum legal age (MLA) for smoking as an approach to address this problem. Singapore successfully raised the MLA from 18 to 21 years in 2021. This study aimed to evaluate the awareness and attitude of multi-ethnic Asian youth (aged 15-24) on raising MLA to 21 and passive smoking.
A cross-sectional survey comprising of 23 items was circulated via a secure internet-based platform, FORMSG between September and November 2022. Data were analyzed for descriptive statistics. Categorical variables were compared for association with receptivity toward change in MLA using Chi-Squared test and multivariable logistic regression analysis using Rstudio. Post-hoc Bonferroni correction were further utilized for pairwise comparison.
Majority (80.3%) of the 608 participants expressed their support for MLA 21 implementation. Participants' age was a significant variable as those aged 15-17 years old (OR = 2.1, 95%CI = 1.01-4.32, = 0.048) showed a higher likelihood of supporting MLA implementation compared to those aged 21 and above. In addition, majority (89.8%) of them were also aware of the harmful effects of passive smoking. When it came to discouraging smoking among youth, family influence (64%) and school education (55.6%) emerged as the top strategies.
Most of the youth express strong support for raising the MLA to 21, with over 80% in favor of such change, reflects a significant harmony among youth in favor of tobacco-free environment.
早期吸烟与发展为长期吸烟习惯的风险增加有关。越来越多的全球共识认为，提高最低法定吸烟年龄（MLA）是解决这一问题的一种方法。新加坡在 2021 年成功地将 MLA 从 18 岁提高到 21 岁。本研究旨在评估多族裔亚洲青年（15-24 岁）对提高 MLA 至 21 岁和被动吸烟的意识和态度。
2022 年 9 月至 11 月期间，通过安全的基于互联网的平台 FORMSG 进行了一项包含 23 个项目的横断面调查。对数据进行描述性统计分析。使用卡方检验比较分类变量与对 MLA 变化的接受程度的相关性，并使用 Rstudio 进行多变量逻辑回归分析。进一步使用事后 Bonferroni 校正进行两两比较。
608 名参与者中的大多数（80.3%）表示支持实施 MLA 21。参与者的年龄是一个显著的变量，因为 15-17 岁的参与者（OR=2.1，95%CI=1.01-4.32，=0.048）与 21 岁及以上的参与者相比，更有可能支持 MLA 的实施。此外，大多数（89.8%）参与者也意识到被动吸烟的有害影响。在劝阻青年吸烟方面，家庭影响（64%）和学校教育（55.6%）是最重要的策略。
大多数青年强烈支持将 MLA 提高到 21 岁，超过 80%的青年赞成这一改变，这反映了青年对无烟环境的高度共识。
