DOES A SINGLE HEALTH TALK MATTER? INSIGHTS FROM A STUDY ON SMOKING AND VAPING AWARENESS AMONG VOCATIONAL STUDENT

Abstract

Tobacco use remains one of the leading causes of preventable disease and death worldwide, while the growing popularity of e-cigarettes among adolescents poses new challenges for tobacco control in Malaysia. Vocational college students represent a high-risk subgroup with unique social and environmental influences, yet local evidence on targeted educational interventions for this population remains limited. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a single-session health education programme in improving knowledge and attitudes towards smoking and vaping among 190 Form 4 students at a vocational college in Sepang, Selangor. A structured questionnaire was used to assess students’ knowledge and attitudes before and after a health talk. Descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, and Spearman’s rank-order correlation were used for data analysis. The results showed no statistically significant difference in overall knowledge scores (Z = -0.527, p = 0.598) or attitude scores (Z = -1.027, p = 0.304) between pre- and post-intervention. However, item-level findings indicated improvements in correcting misconceptions about the harms of e-cigarettes. No significant correlation was found between knowledge and attitudes at either time point. In conclusion, although the single-session programme did not yield significant overall changes, it helped clarify specific misconceptions, suggesting that multi-session, interactive approaches and community support may strengthen future tobacco prevention efforts among vocational college students in Malaysia.