METHODS: Data were derived from a cross-sectional study of 1082 adolescents in 22 welfare institutions located across Peninsular Malaysia in 2009. Using supervised self-administered questionnaires, adolescents were asked to assess their self-esteem and to complete questions on pubertal onset, substance use, family structure, family connectedness, parental monitoring, and peer pressure. SRB was measured through scoring of five items: sexual initiation, age of sexual debut, number of sexual partners, condom use, and sex with high-risk partners. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the various predictors of sexual risk behaviour.
RESULTS: The study showed that 55.1% (95%CI = 52.0-58.2) of the total sample was observed to practice sexual risk behaviours. Smoking was the strongest predictor of SRB among male adolescents (OR = 10.3, 95%CI = 1.25-83.9). Among females, high family connectedness (OR = 3.13, 95%CI = 1.64-5.95) seemed to predict the behaviour.
CONCLUSION: There were clear gender differences in predicting SRB. Thus, a gender-specific sexual and reproductive health intervention for institutionalised adolescents is recommended.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pure tone audiometry test was conducted on 263 residents of a rural village who were not exposed to noise. The pack-years of smoking were computed from the subjects' smoking history. The association between pack-years and hearing impairment was assessed. The combined effect of smoking and age on hearing impairment was determined based on prevalence rate ratio.
RESULTS: There was a statistically significant trend in the number of pack-years of smoking and age as risk factors for hearing impairment. The prevalence rates of hearing impairment for nonsmokers aged 40 years and younger, smokers aged 40 years and younger, nonsmokers older than 40 years of age, and smokers older than 40 years of age were 6.9%, 11.9%, 29.7%, and 51.3%, respectively. The prevalence rate ratio for nonsmokers aged 40 years and younger, smokers aged 40 years and younger, nonsmokers older than 40 years of age, and smokers older than 40 years of age (nonsmokers aged 40 years and younger as a reference group) was 1, 1.7, 4.3, and 7.5, respectively. The prevalence rate ratios showed a multiplicative effect of smoking and age on hearing impairment.
CONCLUSION: Age and smoking are risk factors for hearing impairment. It is clear that smoking and age have multiplicative adverse effects on hearing impairment.