Determinants of e-cigarette use among a
sample of high school students in Jakarta,
Indonesia
Objectives
The aim of this study was to determine the predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors associated with electronic cigarette (ecigarette) use among high school students in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Methods
This cross-sectional study took place in eight high schools in Jakarta, Indonesia. A total of 767 students were recruited by multistage
cluster random sampling. Bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses were employed to determine the associations between sociodemographic, predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors and e-cigarette use.
Results
Respondents were 54.1% male and the mean age was 16 years old [standard deviation (SD): 1.02]. In this sample, 32.2% of students (n
= 247) had ever used e-cigarettes and 11.8% of students were e-cigarette users (n = 90). Several measured factors were positively
associated with e-cigarette use, including: current smoking of conventional cigarettes [odds ratio (OR): 2.06]; perception that e-cigarettes
are less addictive than conventional cigarettes (OR: 1.98); perception that e-cigarettes do not cause cancer (OR: 2.38); parental
acceptance of e-cigarette use (OR: 3.80); and having enough money to buy e-cigarettes (OR: 3.24). The only variable found that was
negatively associated with e-cigarette use was teacher’s use of e-cigarettes (OR: 0.34).
Conclusions
This study found that student social influences, perceptions about and accessibility to e-cigarettes were significantly positively
associated with e-cigarette use among high school students in Jakarta, Indonesia. This study highlights the importance of educating
students, their parents and teachers regarding safety and potential health hazards of using e-cigarettes. Efforts to implement and
enforce youth access restrictions on e-cigarettes in Indonesia are crucial to preventing further uptake of these products.