Malaysian adolescents’ exposure to secondhand smoke in the car of their parents/guardians: A nationwide cross-sectional school-based study

INTRODUCTION: We investigated the prevalence of children’s exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) in the car of their parents/guardians and the associated factors. METHODS: A self-administered validated questionnaire was used to obtain data from the nationally representative samples of school-going adolescents aged 11–19 years in Malaysia. Prevalence rates were computed and chi-squared tests and multiple logistic regression were conducted. RESULTS: Of the participants, 23.3% reported exposure to SHS at least once in the car of their parents/guardians during the last 7 days before the survey. The prevalence and likelihood of SHS exposure were significantly higher in Malays, descendants of natives of Sabah and Sarawak, schools in rural areas, females, and current smokers. However, age group and knowledge on the harmful effects of SHS were not significant after adjusting for confounding effects. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of school-going adolescents were exposed to secondhand smoke in the car of their parents/guardians. This highlights the need for effective tobacco control measures to include health promotion and smoke-free car regulations to be introduced to prevent severe health hazards and to reduce smoking initiation among non-smoking adolescents.