Smoking Behaviour of “Cigarette and e-Cigarette” Public Health

Students of Universitas of Muhammadiyah Kalimantan Timur

Sri Sunarti

1,4

, Tukimin Bin Sansuwito

, Musheer Abdulwahid Al-Jaberi

and Maulidya Dirgandiana

Faculty of Health Sciences, Lincoln University College, Kota Bharu, Malaysia

Faculty of Nursing, Lincoln University College, Kota Bharu, Malaysia

Faculty of Community Health, University Putra Malaysia, Seri Kembangan, Malaysia

Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Muhammadiyah Kalimantan Timur, Samarinda, Indonesia

Keywords: Cigarette, e-Cigarette, Taste, Smell, University.

Abstract: The World Health Organization (WHO) declares that the tobacco smoking epidemic is one of the biggest

threats to public health. The high rate of cigarette consumption in the world, especially in Indonesia, has made

many tobacco users turn to e-cigarettes. This study employed the qualitative method with a case study design.

The data were collected using in-depth interviews and FGD. The subject of this study were students of the

Faculty of Public Health who use cigarettes and e-cigarettes and non-smokers. The research samples were 15

respondents who were selected using the purposive sampling technique because they were chosen by adjusting

to certain considerations or characteristics. Some respondents prefer using e-cigarettes because they are easy

to obtain, could be purchased online, are only expensive when buying the tool, could be used repeatedly, offer

various flavors, are odorless, and have small shapes. In contrast, some respondents prefer conventional

cigarettes because they give a distinct sensation of burning cigarettes, offer quite affordable prices, are

available in retail with easy access, and have more gentle looks. Cigarette and e-cigarette users choose one of

these two types by considering various reasons: easy access, prices, tastes, smell, and practicality.

1 INTRODUCTION

The prevalence of e-cigarette users in Canada and the

United States increased in 2017 and 2018. The high

proportion of e-cigarette users in the United States is

caused by a threefold increase in the purchase of e-

cigarette brands (vapor), commonly produced by

JUUL cigarette companies in 2017 and 2018

(Hammond et al., 2019). According to the Ministry of

Health of the Republic of Indonesia, 32.1% of

Indonesian adolescents have used tobacco. In

addition, a survey in 2018 has revealed that 33.8% of

smokers are over 15 years old; 62.9% of them are

male smokers, and 4.8% of them are female smokers

(Kementerian Kesehatan RI Badan Penelitian dan

Pengembangan Kesehatan, 2018). The data also show

that approximately one million Indonesians are

electric smokers (vapor), and most of them come

from major cities in Indonesia (CNBC, 2019).

2 METHOD

This study employed the qualitative method with a

case study design. The data were collected through in-

depth interviews and a focus group discussion. The

research samples were students of the Faculty of

Public Health who smoke cigarettes and e-cigarettes

and did not smoke. The samples were selected using

simple random sampling.

The informants were selected by considering the

need for information about the smoking behavior of

tobacco cigarettes and electronic cigarette users who

were undergraduate students in the Public Health

Study Program. Therefore, the researchers selected

the key informants, namely tobacco cigarette and

electronic cigarette users who were undergraduate

students in the Public Health Study Program, Faculty

of Health and Pharmacy, Universitas Muhammadiyah

Kalimantan Timur. This study involved 15 samples,

consisting of 6 students who use tobacco cigarettes, 6

students who use e-cigarettes, 1 health worker, 1

tobacco cigarette seller, and 1 e-cigarette seller. The

informants were selected using the purposive

Sunarti, S., Sansuwito, T., Al-Jaberi, M. and Dirgandiana, M.

Smoking Behaviour of “Cigarette and e-Cigarette” Public Health Students of Universitas of Muhammadiyah Kalimantan Timur.

DOI: 10.5220/0011672500003608

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Social Determinants of Health (ICSDH 2022), pages 161-162

ISBN: 978-989-758-621-7; ISSN: 2975-8297

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

161

sampling technique because they were selected by

adjusting to certain considerations or characteristics.

3 RESULTS

The students' knowledge shows that conventional

cigarettes (kretek) and e-cigarettes contain nicotine

and could cause health problems, such as respiratory

tract. This problem occurs because cigarette smoke

passes through the respiratory tract several times.

Another health consequence is lung disease, such as

cancer. The students who smoke conventional

cigarettes (kretek) and those who smoke e-cigarettes

argue that smoking is permissible as long as they have

been 18 years old. Moreover, they argue that it is

common and reasonable for adolescents aged 18

years to smoke. The family will rebuke their children

who smoke kretek or e-cigarettes. However, smoking

is a common activity at several events, such as

wedding parties.

Conventional cigarette (kretek) smokers argue

that smoking by burning tobacco is considered gentler

and gives a different sensation. Besides, they could

buy the cigarettes at retail (per bar) as almost all small

shops or stalls provide retail cigarettes at a more

affordable price and easy access. In contrast, e-

cigarette users argue that e-cigarettes are only

expensive when purchasing the tool. However, the

tool could be used many times so that the price is

affordable. Moreover, e-cigarettes could be

purchased online or offline, though the offline store is

not massively found. E-cigarette liquid offers more

flavor and is odorless when used. Finally, they opine

that e-cigarettes are small in shape; thus, they are

easily brought everywhere.

4 DISCUSSIONS

Individual behavior is influenced by several factors,

such as knowledge, attitudes, and reinforcing factors,

including peers and family (Romijnders et al., 2018).

Knowledge and positive attitudes support a person to

perform behavioral changes. In the globalization era,

using e-cigarettes becomes reasonable even though

they cause as hazardous impacts as conventional

cigarettes (Sudradjat, 2019). Therefore, it is necessary

to develop preventive strategies for cigarette use in a

campus environment to increase the productivity of

graduates and prevent the health effects caused by

cigarettes. Moreover, it is necessary to develop

strategies to stop smoking behavior, such as peer

development for health education (Moshki, Zamani-

Alavijeh, & Mojadam, 2017), engagement of

electronic media on mobile phones (Larsen, Nicholas,

& Christensen, 2016), and the use of hypnotherapy to

quit smoking (Hypnoterapi, 2019

5 CONCLUSIONS

Some respondents prefer using e-cigarettes because

they are easily bought, could be purchased online,

only offer expensive prices at the beginning of buying

the tools, could be used repeatedly, offer various

flavors and odorless, and come in small shapes.

Meanwhile, some respondents prefer conventional

cigarettes because they give a distinct sensation of

burning cigarettes, offer quite affordable prices, are

available in retail, are easily accessed, and have more

gentle looks.

REFERENCES

CNBC, I. (2019) ‘Baru Setahun Legal, Pengguna Vape Di

Indonesia Capai 1 Juta.’

Hammond, D. et al. (2019) ‘Prevalence of vaping and

smoking among adolescents in Canada, England, and

the United States: repeat national cross-sectional

surveys’, BMJ, 365.

Hypnoterapi, P.B.M. (2019) ‘Pengaruh Hypnoterapi

terhadap Perilaku Berhenti Merokok pada Mahasiswa

S1 Kesehatan Masyarakat Universitas Muhammadiyah

Kalimantan Timur’.

Kementerian Kesehatan RI Badan Penelitian dan

Pengembangan Kesehatan (2018) ‘Rikesdas’. Jakarta.

Larsen, M.E., Nicholas, J., and Christensen, H. (2016) 'A

systematic assessment of smartphone tools for suicide

prevention', PLoS ONE, 11(4), pp. 1–14. Available at:

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152285.

Moshki, M., Zamani-Alavijeh, F. and Mojadam, M. (2017)

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behaviors against head lice infestation in female

elementary school students: A randomized controlled

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169361.

Romijnders, K.A.G.J., et al. (2018) ‘Perceptions and

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Sudradjat, S.E. (2019) ‘Kajian Efek Rokok Elektrik

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