Kiến thức, thái độ về thuốc lá điện tử của thanh thiếu niên 15-24 tuổi tại Hà Nội và Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh năm 2020

Objective: The study was undertaken in Hanoi and Hochiminh city to identify the knowledge and attitude of youth 15-24 years of age to e cigarettes in 2020. Method: This was a cross sectional study with a qualitative study combination. KISH method was applied to select 1,211 study participants at one urban and one suburban district in each city. There were 6 indepth interviews, 4 group interview and 2 group discussions to be conducted. Data was clean and entered using EpiData 3.1 software and was analyzed by STATA 16.0 software. Mean value, frequencies were used with a significant level of .05. Qualitative data was transcribed and analyzed by given topics. Results: The average knowledge score of adolescents is 5.88 points compared to a maximum total score of 14 (SD: 3.44). 15.8% of teenagers think that e-cigarettes are more dangerous than traditional cigarettes. The average point of the study's attitude is 4.43 compared to the maximum score of 8 points (SD: 2.44). More than two-thirds of the respondents (68.1%) said that smoking e-cigarettes is a matter of public health concern and nearly half (49.5%) said that e-cigarettes should be banned in Vietnam. Conclusion: The knowledge and attitudes of 15-24 year olds about e-cigarettes are still limited. Information on e-cigarettes needs to be introduced into schools, at least from the lower secondary level so that students can better understand the harmful effects of e-cigarettes, in order to reduce the risk of smoking e-cigarettes at the age from high school and above.