Background: Smoking is one of the major risk factors for the occurrence of life-threatening diseases. Although there is prevalence of adult smokers, the data on smoking among transgenders in Malaysia are not widely available.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 45 transgenders in Kuantan town, Pahang from 18 July 2016 to 26 August 2016 using convenience sampling. A self-administered questionnaire consisted of socio-demographic status, smoking status, smoking dependency behavior, and smoking cessation was distributed among the respondents. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows Version 23.0. Descriptive analysis and bi-variable analysis were described for different variables and chi-square test, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA were the tests used.
Results: Out of 45 male-to-female transgenders, 44.4% were identified as smokers, either current smokers or former smokers. Majority of them were moderate smokers (50%) while only 5% had a high dependency. There was no significant difference (p > 0.005) between smoking status and age, income and educational background. For smoking behavior, 40% had a strong smoking behavioral score while there was a higher percentage (55%) of smoking transgenders who had never attempted smoking since its cessation in the past 12 months.
Conclusion: The smoking prevalence among transgenders is almost equal to non-smoking transgenders.
Keywords: Smoking, transgender, dependency, behavior.
Key words: Smoking, transgender, dependency, behavior
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