Prevalence and Attitudes toward Electronic Cigarette Smoking among Higher Education Students in Surat Thani

Abstract

This cross-sectional survey aims to study the prevalence of e-cigarette smoking and compare attitudes towards e-cigarette smoking among higher education students in Surat Thani Province. The sample was higher education students in Surat Thani, and the sample size was calculated from the estimating proportion formula in the case where the population is known and was selected as a sample of 321, using the multi-stage random sampling method. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire, and the reliability score was 0.61. The descriptive statistics (%, Mean, S.D., Median, Max, Min) were used to describe the level of attitudes toward e-cigarette smoking among higher education students in Surat Thani, and an independent t-test with equal variance was used to compare scores of attitudes between e-cigarette smoking and not e-cigarette smoking students. The results showed that the prevalence of e-cigarette smoking among higher education students in Surat Thani Province was 36.14%, with most having an average attitude score in the moderate range of 59.81% (mean = 3.17±0.76). If classified according to the smoking of e-cigarettes, it was found that the smoking group that used e-cigarettes had an average attitude score in the moderate range of 55.17% (mean = 3.27±0.80). The group that did not smoke e-cigarettes had an average attitude score in the moderate range of 62.44% (mean = 3.12±0.72). When comparing the attitudes towards smoking ecigarettes of higher education students in Surat Thani, it was found that the mean attitudes of the two groups have no difference (p-value = 0.09). In conclusion, the attitude level of students remains at a moderate level. There should be a plan to change the attitude of students, both those who smoke and those who do not smoke e-cigarettes. To promote correct understanding and serve as a guideline for prevention, correction, and reducing the number of e-cigarette smokers in the future.