METHODS: The study employs a cross-sectional design using respondent driven sampling methods. The sample includes 406 fishermen from Pahang state, Malaysia. Using multivariate logistic regressions, we examined the relationship between individual (depression), social (adverse interactions with the police), and structural (poverty-related) stressors and injection drug use and risky injection drug use (e.g.., receptive and non-receptive needle sharing, frontloading and back-loading, or sharing drugs from a common container).
RESULTS: Participants below the poverty line had significantly lower odds of injection drug use (OR 0.52, 95 % CI: 0.27-0.99, p = 0.047) and risky injection drug use behavior (OR 0.48, 95 % CI: 0.25-0.93, p = 0.030). In addition, participants with an arrest history had higher odds of injection use (OR 19.58, 95 % CI: 9.81-39.10, p risk behaviors.
METHODS: A nationwide data set was examined for this secondary data analysis. The dependent variable was the degree of risk, which was measured based on the number of high-risk behaviours in which adolescents participated. Age, gender, ethnicity, self-rated academic performance, family size, parental marital status and parental academic attainment were included as independent variables. Analyses stratified by educational level were conducted. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using ordered logit.
RESULTS: The most common high-risk behaviour among Malaysian adolescents was physical inactivity (35.97%), followed by smoking (13.27%) and alcohol consumption (4.45%). The majority of adolescents had low risks (52.93%), while only a small proportion had high risks (6.08%). Older age was associated with increased odds of having high risks (OR: 1.26). Male adolescents had higher odds of being in a high-risk category compared to female adolescents (OR: 1.28). Compared to Malays, Chinese adolescents had higher odds of being in a high-risk category (OR: 1.71), whereas Indian adolescents had lower odds (OR: 0.65). Excellent academic performance was associated with reduced odds of participating in high-risk behaviours (OR: 0.41).
CONCLUSION: Personal factors are important determinants of high-risk behaviours. This study provides a better understanding of those adolescent groups that are at greater risk.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: An intervention directed towards reducing participation in high-risk behaviours among adolescents who have both poor academic performance and less-educated parents may yield promising outcomes.
METHODS: Data were extracted from a cross-sectional study, the Malaysian Adolescent Health Risk Behaviour (MyAHRB) study, which was conducted from May to September 2013 across 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia. A two-stage proportionate-to-size sampling method was employed to select a total of 3578 school-going adolescents aged 16-17 years from 20 selected schools in urban and rural settlements, respectively. The MyAHRB study adopted a set of self-administered questionnaires adapted from the Global School-based Student's Health Survey (GSHS) and the Youth Risk Behaviour Surveillance.
RESULTS: The results from the analysis of 2991 school-going adolescents aged 16-17 years showed that 16 (in boys) and 15 (in girls) out of 32 combinations of lifestyle risk behaviours clustered. Girls (aOR 2.82, 95% CI: 2.32-3.43) were significantly more likely to have clustered risk behaviours than boys; however, no significant associated factors were observed among girls. In contrast, boys of Malay descent (aOR 0.64, 95% CI: 0.46-0.89) or boys who had at least three friends (aOR 0.65, 95% CI: 0.43-0.99) were less likely to engage in multiple risk behaviours.
CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated the clustering of multiple risk behaviours that occurred in both genders; these results suggest that multiple behaviour intervention programmes, instead of programmes based on siloed approaches, should be advocated and targeted to the high-risk sub-populations identified in the present study.