Table 1 Prevalence of smoking among upper secondary school students in Peninsular Malaysia
Variable | Smoking | Chi-square value | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | Yes | No | Â | Â |
| Â | N(%) | N(%) | Â | Â |
Gender | ||||
 Male | 373(27.9) | 963(72.1) | 361.3 | <0.001 |
 Female | 35(2.4) | 1413(97.6) |  | |
Ethnicity | ||||
 Malay | 372(17.2) | 1812(82.8) | 59.2 | <0.001 |
 Chinese | 18(4.6) | 375(95.4) |  | |
 Indian | 10(5.1) | 186(94.9) |  | |
 Others | 3(27.3) | 8 (72.7) |  | |
Academic Achievement | ||||
 Excellence | 194(11.3) | 1516(88.7) | 51.7 | <0.001 |
 Moderate | 181(18.9) | 779(81.1) |  | |
 Unsatisfactory | 32(32.4) | 70(68.6) |  | |
Marital status of parents | ||||
 Married | 380(14.5) | 2233(85.5) | 0.01 | 0.79 |
 Divorced | 23(15.3) | 127(84.7) |  | |
Level of self esteem | ||||
 High | 192(16.3) | 988(83.7) | 6.37 | 0.012 |
 Low | 189(12.8) | 1288(87.2) |  | |
Loneliness | ||||
 Always | 37(21.3) | 137(78.7) | 6.52 | 0.01 |
 Sometimes | 370(14.2) | 2236(85.8) |  | |
Number of parents Smoked | ||||
 None | 209(11.1) | 1670(88.9) | 40.69 | <0.001 |
 One | 145(18.8) | 627(81.2) |  | |
 Both | 8(42.1) | 11(57.9) |  | |
Number of Best friend/s | ||||
 None | 10(9.3) | 97(90.3) | 2.56 | 0.27 |
 One | 14(13.2) | 91(86.8) |  | |
 Two | 380(14.8) | 218(85.2) |  | |