EXPOSURE TO SECOND-HAND SMOKE (SHS) AND ATTITUDE, PERCEPTION, AND ACCEPTANCE TOWARDS SMOKE-FREE POLICY IN OPEN-AIR EATERIES IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA - A PROTOCOL

Background: Second-hand-smoke (SHS) contributed significantly to the health problem in Malaysia.,and it is significantly high in open air eateries. However, no study been carried out to determine the objective measurement of SHS exposure, and, Attitude, perception and acceptance among Malaysian adult on smoke free policy in Malaysia. Thus, the present study proposes to fill the gap of the related issue. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study design will be used to measure nicotine vapour in selected open-air eateries and Survey of customers, workers and owners attitude, perception and their acceptance on smoke-Free policy in the open-air eatery premises. Nicotine vapour will be measured using NIOSH standard method 2551, whereas standard validated questionnaire will be used to measure attitude, perception and acceptance of premises owner, workers, and customers. Descriptive, Chi Square, independent T-Test and Multiple Linear regression will be used for data analysis using SPSS software. Expected Outcome: The findings from the present study are important to provide information on SHS exposure as well as the perception and acceptance of the customers, workers and owners of open-air eateries towards smoke-free policy in open-air eateries. Such information is particularly helpful in providing objective evidence to stakeholders and/or policy-makers on the formulation of suitable policies to address the problem of exposure to second-hand smoke among Malaysian population in public places since public acceptance and attitude are important pre-requisite elements in securing and enforcing effective smoke-free laws Keywords: Second-hand smoke, open-air eatery premises, attitude, perception, smoke-free policy