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Hrywna, Mary, Cristine D. Delnevo, Eric S. Pevzner, and Diane J. Abatemarco. 2004. “Correlates of Bidi Use Among Youth.? American Journal of Health Behavior 28:173-179.
The purpose of this research was to identify characteristics associated with bidi use which are small brown hand-rolled unfiltered cigarettes. They are manufactured primarily in Indian and Southeast Asian countries and have been imported to the U.S. for the past 20 years. They deliver more nicotine than the average cigarette and therefore at a greater risk of different types of cancers. This study uses the 2001 New Jersey Youth Tobacco Survey that was a representative survey of all middle and high school students in New Jersey. The survey was administered to 5,413 middle school students in 60 schools and 4,176 high school students in 55 schools. The overall participation rate was 73 percent in middle schools and 61 percent in high schools. The major reasons for not being included were teacher not wanting to devote time to survey or absenteeism.
Findings: In New Jersey, 11.8% of middle school students and 33.6% of high school students reported current use of any tobacco products. 5.1 percent of middle school students smoked bidis and 8.5 percent of high school students. There were no gender differences in bidi use among middle school students, but in high school males (11.4 percent) were more likely than females (5.4 percent) to report current bidi use. “In middle school, Hispanic students (18.1%) were significantly more likely to report current use of any tobacco relative to white students (9.5%); black middle school students did not differ significantly from white or Hispanic students. In high school, white students (36.7%) were significantly more likely than black students (24.4%) to report any use of tobacco but did not differ significantly from Hispanic students? (p. 175). “In regard to bidi use, racial differences in current use were noted. In middle school, black and Hispanic students (7.3% and 9.3%, respectively) were significantly more likely than white students (3.1%) to report current bidi use. In high school, black students (11.2%) were more likely than white students (7.1%) to report current bidi use? (p. 175). The Hispanic use rate was (9.5%).
Johnson, Carolyn C., Leann Myers, Larry S. Webber, and Neil W. Boris. 2004. “Profiles of the Adolescent Smoker: Models of Tobacco use among 9th Grade High School Students Acadiana Coalition of Teens against Tobacco (ACTT).? Preventive Medicine 39:551-558.
This study administered a cross-sectional Health Habits Survey to 4,808 students in the state of Louisiana who were about 15 years old and predominantly white to inform adolescent tobacco control programs. Saliva samples were collected from 1,966 students resulting in good concordance between self-reported daily tobacco use and cotinine. Study used 9th grade Louisiana Students. “The Acadiana Coalition of Teens against Tobacco (ACTT) is a randomized, controlled cohort study. The cohort was defined as all students enrolled in 9th grade of participating schools at the time of measurement who completed the ACTT Health Habits Survey (N = 4763) (p. 552).? Forty students were deleted for missing gender and race information or not answering any of the four questions about smoking prevalence.
Findings: Fifty-eight percent of the students had ever smoked a cigarette and Latinos were the highest racial or ethnic group who reported this (70.8 percent or n=51) compared to Native Americans 63.9 percent (n=39), Whites 63.8 percent (n=1,846), 45.9 percent African Americans (n=710), 42.6 percent Asians (n=29). Twenty-five percent had a cigarette within the previous 30 days with Latinos specifically reporting 34.2 percent. Seventeen percent smoked within the past seven days and almost eight percent reported smokeless tobacco use. Smokeless tobacco was found more prevalent for boys more than girls. Whites, Native Americans, and Latinos were found more likely to smoke than African Americans.
Kandel, Denise B., Gebre-Egziabher Kiros, Christine Schaffran, and Mei-Chen Hu. 2004. “Racial/Ethnic Differences in Cigarette Smoking Initiation and Progression to Daily Smoking: A Multilevel Analysis.? American Journal of Public Health 94:128-135.
The purpose of the research project was to identify individual and contextual predictors of adolescent smoking initiation and progression to daily smoking to daily smoking by race/ethnicity. The researchers used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health that was in in-school survey conducted from September 1994 to April 1995 for a national representative sample of 90,118 adolescents in grades 7 through 12. Two data waves were conducted.
Findings: “Initiation to smoking was slightly higher among Hispanic (20.3%) and White (18.2%) youths than among Black (16.2%) youths. The transition to daily smoking was slightly higher among White (18.8%) and Hispanic (15.9%) youths than among Black (9.6%) youths? (p. 130). “There were more common predictors than ethnic-specific predictors of adolescent smoking initiation and progression to daily smoking. Peer smoking, delinquency, single-parent family, older age, and absence of ban on vending machines predicted smoking onset across all 3 racial/ethnic groups. Frequency of smoking, parental and peer smoking, and low parent-child connectedness were common predictors of progression to daily smoking? (p. 132). Overall solutions included reducing delinquent behavior, peer and parental influences, and increasing positive academic orientation.
Levinson, Arnold H., Eliseo J. Perez-Stable, Paula Espinoza, Estevan Flores, and Tim E. Byers. 2004. “Latinos Report Less Use of Pharmaceutical Aids When Trying to Quit Smoking.? American Journal of Preventive Medicine 26:105-110.
Study assessed underlying causes such as lighter smoking, lower financial status, and less healthcare access to explain disparate rates of smoking-cessation support. Random telephone survey interviewed 10,945 white non-Latino respondents and 1004 Latino respondents.
Findings: Compared to whites, Latinos were less often former smokers (16.3 percent v 26.5 percent, p<0.0001). However, Latinos aged 35 to 64 were more likely than whites in this age group to smoke currently (22.9 percent v 17.8 percent, p=0.03). Latinos reported light smoking more often than white current smokers and heavy smoking less often. Latinos reported higher prevalence of quit attempts (71.5 percent v 61.6 percent, p<0.01) but less physician advice to quit smoking (46.4 percent v 56.2 percent, p<0.005) and less use of NRT or an anti-depressant for cessation (10.6 percent v 24.8 percent, p<0.0001). Population-level differences in health status, smoking level, financial status, or healthcare access do not explain why Latino smokers less often use proven pharmaceutical aids to increase cessation. Further research needed.
MacPherson, Laura and Mark G. Myers. 2004. “Invariance Study of an Adolescent Survey-Based Smoking-Related Cognitions Scale: Examination across Hispanic and Caucasian Groups.? Preventive Medicine 39:1026-1035.
This study examines the psychometric properties and cultural invariance by using an 8-item-tobacco-related belief scale that was administered as part of the state-wide California Tobacco Survey geared toward 12 to 18 year olds. The total sample included 1,960 non-Hispanic Whites, 593 English-speaking Mexican Americans, and 455 Spanish-speaking Mexican Americans.
Findings: “Invariance analyses indicated that relationships among the smoking-related cognitions construct were equivalent for the non-Hispanic whites and English-speaking Mexican-Americans, but not for the former group and the Spanish-speaking Mexican Americans. Finally invariance analyses of the factor across gender also indicated that relationships between smoking-related cognition items and the underlying construct were equivalent within non-Hispanic Whites, but differed substantially by gender within both English-speaking Mexican American and Spanish-speaking Mexican-Americans? (p. 1032). The question that had the largest difference was “It’s safe to smoke for only a year or two?? where 5 non-Hispanic whites and 5 English-speaking Latinos chose this answer but 22 Spanish-speaking Mexican-Americans replied yes.
Maher, Julie E., Michael J. Boysun, Kristen Rohde, Michael J. Stark, Barbara A. Pizacani, Julia Dilley, Craig H. Mosbaek, Kathryn E. Pickle. 2004. “Are Latinos Really Less Likely to Be Smokers? Lessons from Oregon.? Nicotine and Tobacco Research 7:283-287.
Objective: identify factors associated with current cigarette smoking among Latino adults in Oregon. Used data from 1,356 Latino participants and for comparison, 18,593 non-Latino White participants in the 2000-2002 Oregon Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) which is a random digit dialed cross sectional survey of noninstitutionalized, English- or Spanish-speaking adults who live in Oregon households with a telephone. Response rate 50 percent.
Findings: Prevalence of smoking was significantly lower among Latinos (18.1 percent) than non-Latino Whites (20.8 percent). Latinos between the ages of 18-24 were more likely to smoke (28.5 percent), followed by 25-34 years (24.5 percent). Latino men were significantly more likely than Latina women to be smokers (23.1 percent vs. 11.4 percent). Smoking prevalence was 20.5 percent among women who took the survey in English compared to 3.3 percent for those taking it in Spanish. Authors suggest that the lower smoking tobacco control programs examine their local Latino smoking prevalence by gender and acculturation to avoid incorrectly concluding Latinos are at a decreased risk.
Nasseri, Kiumarss. 2004. “Secular Trends in Cancer Mortality, California 1970-1998.? Cancer Detection and Prevention 28:143-154.
Nasseri monitors age-adjusted cancer related mortality to evaluate the effectiveness of cancer control activities by race/ethnicity in California from 1970 to 1998. Death certificates were obtained from the California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics. For inclusion the deceased had to be a resident of the state of California prior to death. There were a total of 1,246,365 records that satisfied the criteria and 1,245,210 with known age, race, and ethnicity.
Findings: Cancer mortality rates began to decline in 1987 for both men and women. Latino and Asian cancer mortality rates were substantially lower than non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Black who have the highest rate. Overall 80.8 percent of all deaths included in this study were classified as Non-Hispanic White. The three most identified cancers as cause of death in the male population for all races were lung, prostate, and colorectal with an exception of cancer of the liver which is the second most identified site in Asian men. Among women, the three most frequently identified sites are lung, breast, and colorectal. For Hispanic women it was breast cancer followed by lung, and colorectal cancer. The rates for male lung cancer are as follows: Non Hispanic White (57.0), Non-Hispanic Black (84.8), Latino (31.1) and Asian/Pacific Islander (30.9). For women the rates were: Non-Hispanic White (37.5), Non-Hispanic Black (38.1), Latino (15.8), and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.4).
Portugal, Cecilia, Tess Boley Cruz, Lilia Espinoza, Marisol Romero, and Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati. 2004. “Countering Tobacco Industry Sponsorship of Hispanic/Latino Organizations through Policy Adoption: A Case Study.? Health Promotion Practice 5:143S-156S. ABSTRACT.
The Hispanic/Latino Tobacco Education Network (H/LaTEN) initiated efforts to counter these marketing forms with the Hispanic community. In 1998, 38 California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce were contacted to assess the tobacco industry’s marketing tactics and penetration.
Sexton, Ken, John L. Adgate, Timothy R. Church, Stephen S. Hecht, Gurumurthy Ramachandran, Ian A. Greaves, Ann L. Fredrickson, Andrew D. Ryan, Steven G. Carmella, and Mindy S. Geisser. 2004. “Children’s Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Using Diverse Exposure Metrics to Document Ethnic/Racial Differences.? Environmental Health Perspectives 112:392-397.
Two hundred sixteen students in grades 2 through 5 were selected based on a stratified random sampling strategy and eligible siblings were allowed to participate. This was part of the SHIELD study. There were 152 children who agreed to be in the study. Total cotinine was measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Findings: Two urine samples were obtained from 86 percent of the children and 66 percent provided T-A logs. Twenty-two percent reported that the caregiver had smoked inside the home, and 21 percent said that other occupants smoked inside the home. African American children reported a higher percentage of smoking in the home (46 percent of caregivers smoked, 33 percent of occupants). Typically children in the “other? category (white, Native American, Southeast Asian) were nominally the next most exposed group, followed by Hispanics and Somali immigrants. The results conclude that a substantial number of economically disadvantaged and ethnically diverse neighborhood children were routinely exposed to ETS.
Windle, Michael, Jo Anne Grunbaum, Marc Elliott, Susan R. Tortolero, Sandy Berry, Janice Gilliland, David E. Kanouse, Guy S. Parcel, Jan Wallander, Steve Kelder, Janet Collins, Lloyd Kolbe, and Mark Schuster. 2004. “Healthy Passages: A Multilevel, Multimethod Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.? American Journal of Preventive Medicine 27:164-172.
The purpose of this research was to provide an overview of a multisite, long-term study that focuses on risk and protective factors, health behaviors, and health outcomes for a fifth grade cohort that will be followed biennially from ages 10 to 20 years. A two-stage probability sampling was used to produce 5,250 fifth-grade students from school in Birmingham AL, Houston TX, and Los Angeles CA to ensure a sufficient sample size for African Americans, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic Whites. Moreover, teachers and other school personnel answered questionnaires and observational procedures were used to obtain information about the schools and neighborhoods.
Findings: The main findings of this research discuss how this research design and studying the predictors and time course of multiple health behaviors with a multilevel, multimethod assessment protocol can provide an empirical bases for effective social and educational policies and intervention groups.
Arcury, Thomas A., Sara A. Quandt, John S. Preisser, John T. Bernert, Deborah Norton, and Joanna Wang. 2003. “High Levels of Transdermal Nicotine Exposure Produce Green Tobacco Sickness in Latino Farmworkers.? Nicotine and Tobacco Research 5:315-321.
“This study tested whether GTS (Green tobacco sickness) results from nicotine poising. Data collection was based on a prospective design in which 182 farmworkers were interviewed up to five time at biweekly intervals. A saliva sample was obtained at each interview? (p. 315). This was a longitudinal surveillance design and the data was collected in 1999 from migrant and seasonal farmworkers who resided in residential sites in North Carolina. The final sample of 182 workers were contacted a total of 701 times.
Findings: The participants included 178 Hispanic males, one non-Hispanic male, and three Hispanic females. The mean age was 31.2 years. The 31 occurrences of GTS were distributed among 25 tobacco workers in this sample. The evidence indicated that smoking is a protective for GTS. GTS occurred 5.3 percent of the study weeks whereas GTS occurred in 5.2 percent of the study weeks for occasional smokers, and 3.4 percent of the weeks for smokers. GTS is an occupational illness resulting from nicotine poisoning. The GTS levels were higher when the leaves were wet.
Denny, Clark H., Mary K. Serdula, Deborah Holtzman, and David E. Nelson. 2003. “Physician Advice About Smoking and Drinking: Are U.S. Adults Being Informed?? American Journal of Preventive Medicine 24:71-74.
This research obtained data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System which is a continuous random-digit-dial telephone survey of U.S. adults. In 1997 10 states were asked about intervention by a health professional and 75 percent agreed to participate leading to a total of 26,629 respondents of which 8,165 reported smoking more than 100 cigarettes.
Findings: “By self-report, 70% of smokers who had a routine checkup in the past 12 months were advised to quit smoking by a health professional in that period?(p. 72). “By applying the percentages of smoking and alcohol intervention for the 10 states to the estimated number of smokers and binge drinkers who had a routine checkup in the last year for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, we estimate that intervention for over 8 million smokers and almost 11 million binge drinkers could have occurred but did not? (p. 73). Of this number 63.4 percent of Latinos received advice to quit smoking which was less than non-Hispanic Whites (70.2 percent) and non-Hispanic Blacks (73.5 percent).
Lawrence, Deirdre, Jessica E. Graber, Sherry L. Mills, Helen I. Meissner, and Richard Warnecke. 2003. “Smoking Cessation Interventions in U.S. Racial/Ethnic Minority Populations: an Assessment of the Literature.? Preventive Medicine 36:204-216.
This article reviews published studies that examine effects of smoking cessation interventions relevant to racial ethnic minority populations. A Literature search of tobacco interventions, reporting smoking cessation outcomes in U.S. minority populations, was conducted for the period 1985 to 2001.
Findings: Twenty-three articles reported quit rates for African Americans, four for Asian/Pacific Islanders, three for Native Americans, and 10 for Hispanics. There were many methodological differences. New studies should focus more attention on interventions that are culturally specific.
McQueen, Amy, J. Greg Getz, and James H. Bray. 2003. “Acculturation, Substance Use, and Deviant Behavior: Examining Separation and Family Conflict as Mediators.? Child Development 74:1737-1750.
“This longitudinal study examined how separation and family conflict mediated the effects of two acculturation variables (English language use and generational status) on substance use (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use) and deviant behavior outcomes in a Mexican American high school age sample? (p. 1737). This study used a subset of data that was collected as part of the Baylor Adolescent Alcohol Project. The students were drawn from five suburban school districts in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area. The average age was 15 and most students were born in the U.S (87 percent).
Findings: “Structural equation modeling indicated that separation was a significant mediator of the relationship between acculturation and alcohol use, tobacco use, and deviant behavior. Family conflict mediated the effects of acculturation on marijuana use and deviant behavior. Model comparisons across gender groups suggested that generational status was an influential acculturation measure for females but not males. Additionally, English language use maintained a direct effect on marijuana use among females, whereas this relationship was mediated by separation for males? (p. 1737). “As youth progress through transitions in adolescence, adopt less idealized view of their parents, and become less dependent on the family, they are more likely to use substances and engage in deviant behavior? (1745-1746). This study urges a more diverse understanding of acculturation and its attitude and behavioral outcomes across different generations.
Morgan-Lopez, Antonio A., Felipe Gonzalez Castro, Laurie Chassin, David P. MacKinnon. 2003. “A Mediated Moderation Model of Cigarette Use among Mexican American Youth.? Addictive Behaviors 28:583-589.
The current study tested a model examining both the direct and mediated effects of Ethnic Cultural Norms (ECN) on cigarette use in sample of Mexican American youths (ages 11-14; N=921). The authors sought to determine how acculturation and enculturation influenced cigarette use.
Findings: Tobacco Avoidance Self-Efficacy mediated the protective influence of ECN on cigarette use. High acceptance of Mexican cultural norms was a protective factor against adolescent smoking and that its impact was mediated through Avoidance Self-Efficacy. However, the level of protection that these norms provide decreases as peer smoking increases. Peer influence dampens protective influences of enculturation. Target should include the social influence to smoke.
Philis-Tsimikas, Athena, Chris Walker, Lisa Rivard, Gregory Talvera, Joachim O.F. Reimann, Michelle Salmon, and Rachel Araujo. 2004. “Improvement in Diabetes Care of Underinsured Patients Enrolled in Project Dulce.? Diabetes Care. 27:110-115.
The researchers studied 153 high-risk patients with diabetes recruited from six community clinic sites in San Diego County, CA who were enrolled in a nurse case management and peer education group. Project Dulce built upon the wealth of information supporting the effectiveness of community health workers or “promotoras.? Programs such as Project Dulce can be used as models to administer diabetes care to underserved populations and can potentially be adapted to the needs of underserved communities throughout the U.S. Baseline and 1-year levels of HbA lipid parameters, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, knowledge of diabetes, culture-based beliefs in ineffective remedies, and treatment satisfaction were prospectively measured. The Nurse care management and peer education/empowerment group was compared with 76 individuals in a matched control group derived from patients referred but not enrolled in project Dulce.
Findings: A novel, culturally appropriate, community based, nurse case management/peer education diabetes care model leads to significant improvement in clinical diabetes care, self-awareness, and understanding of diabetes. Significant improvements in HbA, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and diastolic blood presser, which were significantly better than in the Control Group, in which no significant changes were noted.
Soliman, Soheil, Harold A. Pollack, and Kenneth E. Warner. 2004. “Decrease in the Prevalence of Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure in the Home during the 1990s in Families with Children.? American Journal of Public Health 94:314-320.
This study examines changes and correlates in the prevalence of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure of children in the home by using data from the 1991 and 2000 National Health Interview Survey. For both years the total sample size was 15,601 (4418 families from 1992 and 11,183 from 2000).
Findings: ETS exposure in homes decreased from 1992 (36%) to 2000 (25%) and this was significant (P<.0001). ETS exposure was reduced for Whites, Latinos, and African Americans but increased for Native Americans and Asians however these two racial groups were a small part of the sample size (0.5 to 2.8) and therefore not significant. African Americans and Latinos were less likely to smoke in the home. Non-Hispanic Whites had higher smoking intensity among other large race/ethnic groups. The decrease in overall smoking does not explain the magnitude of ETS decreased exposure.
Delnevo, Cristine D., Mary Hrywna, Diane J. Abatemarco, M. Jane Lewis. 2003. “Relationship Between Cigarette Smoking and Weight Control in Young Women.? Family Community Health 26:140-146.
“This article explores the relationship between frequency of smoking and weight loss strategies among a nationally representative sample of high school females (n=7,828)? (p. 140). The researchers used the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) designed and implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This survey utilized a three-stage cluster sample to obtain a representative sample of students in grades 9 through 12 in the United States with a response rate of 66 percent. The survey included 87 multiple choice items that address six priority health risk behaviors including cigarette use.
Findings: “Overall, one out of three female students were current smokers and 11.7% were daily smokers. White and Hispanic females were significantly more likely to report current use of cigarettes than Black females. Additional, white females (14.5%) were significantly more likely to smoke daily compared with Black (4.4%) and Hispanic females (5.4%). More than half of all high school females indicated an intention to lose weight (59.4%). White and Hispanic females were significantly more likely than Black females to want to lose weight, while Black females were significantly more likely than white and Hispanic females to want to gain weight? (p. 141). Future studies need to recognize the influence of body image and weight control for smoking behavior.
Freeman, Natalie C.G., Dona Schneider, and Patricia McGarvey. 2003. “Household Exposure Factors, Asthma, and School Absenteeism in a Predominantly Hispanic Community.? Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 13:169-76.
Children were screened for weight, measurement, and given a peak-flow or spirometry test. They were asked five questions regarding if anyone smoked in the home, whether they had pets, and whether the children had rugs or carpets in their room. A 25-item questionnaire was designed of which parental questionnaires were received from 4,634 children of which 6,480 elementary children were eligible resulting in a 72 percent response rate. The three Latino groups that predominate in the community were Dominicans, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans. A large proportion of these questionnaires were completed in Spanish (57 percent of preschool and 46 percent of elementary school). These numbers were then compared with the 2000 US Census.
Findings: “Overall, 16% of the school children were reported by their parents to have been diagnosed with asthma. In all, 30% of responding families claimed to have at least one family member diagnosed with asthma and this was five times more likely if the target child had asthma. Exposures consistently associated with childhood asthma diagnosis included environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), presence of dampness/mold, roaches, and furry pets in the home….Puerto Rican and black children had the highest asthma prevalence (26% and 33%), while Mexican children had the lowest (7%)? (p. 169).
Gritz, Ellen R., Alexander V. Prokhorov, Karen Suchanek Hudmon, Mary Mullin Jones, Carol Rosenblum, Chung-Chi Chang, Robert M. Chamberlain, Wendell C. Taylor, Dennis Johnston, Carl de Moor. 2003. “Predictors of Susceptibility to Smoking and Ever Smoking: A Longitudinal Study in a Triethnic Sample of Adolescents.? Nicotine and Tobacco Research 5:493-506.
“This report describes a longitudinal study of the natural course of smoking initiation in a school-based, ethnically diverse (42% White, 37% African American, 20% Hispanic) sample of adolescents in grades 5, 8, and 12 who were followed prospectively for 1 year. A cohort of 659 students was identified who were never smokers at baseline and who completed questionnaires both at baseline and at 1-year follow up? (p. 493). This was a mixed cross-sectional and longitudinal study with a multiethnic focus. Schools were recruited within the Houston-Galveston area in Texas. A total of 1,441 students completed a baseline survey. A 149-item survey instrument was sued to asses a range of factors. This data established predictor variables that were used in a logistic regression analyses that revealed several findings.
Findings: “Hispanic adolescents were significantly influenced by environmental influences, namely smoking by other household members (ever smoking) and by peers (susceptibility and ever smoking), although pro-tobacco influences (friends who smoke or friends’ approval of smoking) were important predictors of susceptibility to smoking or ever smoking for all three ethnic groups? (p. 493).
O’Brien, Kathryn, Vilma Cokkinides, Ahmedin Jemal, Cheryll J. Cardinez, Taylor
Murray, Alicia Samuels, Elizabeth Ward, and Michael J. Thun. 2003. “Cancer Statistics for Hispanics.? CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/content/full/53/4/208.
This article presents health statistics on the US Hispanic population and provides estimates on the number of new cancer cases and deaths. The authors used the underlying cause-of-death data from death certificates among Latinos as reported to the National Center for Health Statistics. By 1993 all states were coding Hispanic ethnicity on death certificates with the exception of Oklahoma who began doing so in 1997. This data is from 1993 through 1999. To make future estimates the researchers used a regression model based on previous years.
Findings: In 2003, there is expected to be 67,400 new cancer cases of which 27 percent of male cases are expected to be prostate and, 12 percent colon, and 7 percent lung. For females these numbers are expected to be 30 percent breast, 9 percent colon, and six percent lung cancer. Overall, Latinos have lower mortality rates than non-Hispanic Whites. “Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic men and the second leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic women. However, because of traditionally lower rates of cigarette smoking among Hispanics, lung cancer incidence and mortality rates were approximately 50% lower than those in non-Hispanic whites from 1995 to 1999? (p. 211-212).
Morgan-Lopez, Antonio A., Felipe Gonzalez Castro, Laurie Chassin, and David P. MacKinnon. 2003. “A Mediated Moderation Model of Cigarette Use among Mexican American Youth.? Addictive Behaviors 28:583-589.
“The current study tested a model examining both the direct and mediated effects of Ethnic Cultural Norms (ECN) on cigarette use in a sample of Mexican American youth (ages 11-14; N=921)? (p. 583). Data was obtained from pre-intervention reports with 921 Mexican American students in a culturally oriented tobacco prevention program. Forty four percent had at least one friend who smoked, 50.7 percent a household member, 36 percent had tried at least one cigarette in their lifetime, and 7.7 percent smoked at least one cigarette daily. Ethnic Cultural Norms were measured using a four-item scale.
Findings: High acceptance of Mexican cultural norms was a protective factor against adolescent smoking however this decreases as peer smoking increases. Collectivism may reduce youth smoking, but the subculture may override the value. Enculturation serves as a valuable protective factor and is transmitted indirectly.
Rodriguez, Vanessa M., Terry L. Conway, Susan I. Woodruff, and Christine C. Edwards, 2003. “Pilot Test of an Assessment Instrument for Latina Community Health Advisors Conducting an ETS Intervention.? Journal of Immigrant Health 5:129-37.
This study pilot tested community health advisors (CHA) that are also known as promotores and examined promotora training on CHA knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs concerning ETS reduction. There were 11 women recruited from the local community for this training. There were a total of 20 hours of training over eight sessions during a 1-monht period. The average age of the participants was 45 years. They were all Mexican origin and married.
Findings: Overall the findings were positive and showed increases in self-efficacy (from 32.73 to 36.36 at the .015 level) and self esteem (from 31.55 to 36.18 at the .001 level). The promotoras came in already high in these areas, but it did increase. The CHAs examined were relatively homogenous on demographic characteristics. Several of the constructs did not change from pre to post testing. Future research should include how people are selected and recruited to be trained in the promotora model and how they achieve success.
Slymen, Donald J., John P. Elder, Alan J. Litrownik, Guadalupe X. Ayala, Nadia R. Campbell. 2003. “Some Methodologic Issues in Analyzing Data from a Randomized Adolescent Tobacco and Alcohol Use Prevention Trial.? Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 56:332-340.
There were a total of 660 adolescents from 22 schools in San Diego County, California and one adult caregiver per child who participated in this study. The participants were identified through the Migrant Education Program in San Diego and the schools were randomly assigned to an experimental intervention design to prevent the use of tobacco and alcohol or to an attention-control first aid/home safety program.
Findings: “Three issues concerning the design and analysis of randomized behavioral intervention studies are illustrated and discussed within the framework of a tobacco and alcohol prevention trial among migrant Latino adolescents. The first issue arises when subjects are randomized in clusters rather than individually. Because subject observations cannot be assumed to be independent, information pertaining to the degree of clustering must be reported, and analyses must take the clustering into account. The second issue concerns the impact of compliance to the intervention and the importance of measuring compliance in the experimental and attention-control groups. A compliance analysis is common to both conditions. Third, because outcomes are measured repeatedly over time, we illustrate the importance of assessing the impact of missing-data patterns on outcomes and the extent to which the patterns may modify the treatment effect? (p. 332).
Ventura, Stephanie J., Brady E. Hamilton, T.J. Mathews, and Anjani Chandra. 2003. “Trends and Variations in Smoking During Pregnancy and Low Birth Weight: Evidence From the Birth Certificate, 1990-2000.? Pediatrics 111:1176-1180.
“This study compares patterns of tobacco use during pregnancy over time and across population subgroups and examines the impact of maternal smoking on the incidence of low birth weight (LBW). The study also evaluates the use of birth certificates to monitor prenatal smoking? (p. 1176). The authors looked at birth certificates for all states (except California) provided to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics.
Findings: “Smoking during pregnancy was reported for 12.2% of women who gave birth in 2000, down from 37% from 1989, when this information was first collected on birth certificates. Throughout the 1990s, prenatal smoking rates were highest for older teenagers and women in their early 20s. Among population subgroups, the highest rates were reported for non-Hispanic white women who attended but did not complete high school? (p. 1176).
Woodruff, Susan I., Terry L. Conway, Christine C. Edwards, Melbourne F. Hovell. 2003. “Acceptability and Validity of Hair Collection from Latino Children to Assess Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke.? Nicotine and Tobacco Research 5:375-85.
“This study assessed the acceptability of collecting hair from Latino children to measure environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and examined the concurrent validity between nicotine and cotinine levels in children’s hair in relation to adult reports of the children’s ETS exposure. Trained Latina lay community health advisors recruited 143 Spanish-speaking Latino adult volunteers and their children? (p. 375). All but four of the adult participants were female, and 90 percent were mothers of the child. The average age was 33 years and 57 percent were married and living with their spouse. Thirty-six percent were employed outside of the home. Eighty-five percent were born in Mexico.
Findings: Eight of the 143 participants expressed concern about the hair being cut, although they allowed the collection. 35.6 percent requested feedback on the child’s hair sample analyses, whereas no one requested feedback on any other portion of the study. In four cases there was an insufficient amount of hair collected for analysis. The primary sources of ETS exposure for children were adults including spouses, relatives, someone visiting the home, or visiting friends. “Hair nicotine was more detectable than hair cotinine and, compared with cotinine, showed a clearer linear relationship with adults’ reports….Hair sampling may be potentially useful, noninvasive technique in ETS studies, although the modest associations of constituents in children’s hair with adults’ reports indicate that each measure provides different information about ETS exposure? (p. 375).
Wortley, Pascale M. Corinne G. Husten, Angela Trosclair, Jeff Chrismon, and Linda L. Pederson. 2003. “Nondaily Smokers: A Descriptive Analysis. Nicotine and Tobacco Research 5:755-759.
This report analyzed 1997-1998 data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). NHIS collects self-reported information on cigarette smoking from a representative sample of the U.S. civilian, nonisntitutionalized population aged 18 years or older through in-home survey. Nondaily smokers were defined as person who had ever smoked 100 cigarettes, smoked some days, and smoked on few than 30 of the past 30 days.
Findings: An estimated 16 percent of the current smokers were nondaily smokers. It was more common among smokers aged 18-24 years (19.9 percent) than among those aged 45-64 years (12 percent), more common among Black and Hispanic smokers than among White smokers and more common among smokers with at least a college education. Nondaily smokers were more likely than daily smokers to have a quit attempt in the past year (55.2 percent vs. 40 percent). Hispanics comprised 29.9 percent of nondaily smokers as a percentage of current smokers and this was higher than every racial and ethnic group (White 13.9 percent; Black 19.2 percent; Asian 19.6 percent; and American Indian 18.6 percent).
Arcury, Thomas A., Sara A. Quandt, Winston-Salem, Daniel I. Garcia, John S. Preisser, Deborah Norton, Pamela Rao. 2002. “A Clinic-Based, Case-Control Comparison of Green Tobacco Sickness among Minority Farmworkers: Clues for Prevention.? Southern Medical Journal 95:1008-1011.
This paper examines possible green tobacco sickness preventive measures by collecting data from 36 patients with GTS and 40 controls who presented at clinics in North Carolina in 1999 and 2000. The participants completed an interview that included questions regarding personal and work characteristics along with GTS risk factors. All the participants were Mexican males with little education and limited knowledge of English.
Findings: More cases than controls worked in wet tobacco and in wet clothes. Working in a rain suit in wet tobacco increased the odds of having GTS by 2.60 times than those who work in dry conditions yet this was not significant. Mexicans who worked in wet conditions without a rain suit were at 14.56 times greater risk of GTS than those who worked in dry conditions and this was significant at p < .001. Workers should be advised to wear a rain suit when tobacco is wet, but to remove when dry to decrease risk of heat stress. It should be recognized that the sample was small.
Boucher, Faith and Marc B. Schenker. 2002. “Cervical Cancer among Hispanic Women: Assessing the Impact on Farmworkers.? Journal of Immigrant Health 4:159-65.
Purpose to review literature on five things including pap smear screening rates and barriers to preventive care services. Methods were MEDLINE files from 1966 to 1999 were searched for key words Hispanic health, cervical cancer and Hispanics, cervical cancer and Mexico, migrants and health, agricultural occupational health, farmworkers and cancer, and farmworker health. The same was done using AGRICOLA.
Findings: “Poor rural Hispanic women, especially farmworkers are at a grater risk of cervical cancer morbidity and mortality because of high incidence and low Pap smear services…The professional model of health care itself may need to be reformed to incorporate the concept of community empowerment and partnerships involving providers and community groups (p. 163).? Promotores/as has a growing number of proponents and have been effective among farm workers.
Chen, Xinguang, Tess Boley Cruz, Darleen V. Schuster, Jennifer B. Unger, and Carl Anderson Johnson. 2002. “Receptivity to Protobacco Media and Its Impact on Cigarette Smoking Among Ethnic Minority Youth in California.? Journal of Health Communication 7:95-111.
Data from cross-sectional surveys of 20,332 randomly sampled California boys and girls 12-17 years of age, were analyzed. California Tobacco Survey (CTS) and the California Youth Tobacco Survey. Households were randomly selected using a modified Waksberg-Mitofsky random-digit dial methodology. A computer assisted interview (CATI) technique.
Findings: Receptivity to Protobacco media was lower among African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanics than among White youth. After controlling for other variables, the association between media receptivity and smoking was statistically significant only for White and Hispanic youth, not African and Asian American. Authors suggest further research.
Choi, Won S., Jasjit S. Ahluwalia, Kari J. Harris, Kolawole Okuyemi. 2002. “Progression to Established Smoking: The Influence of Tobacco Marketing.? American Journal of Preventive Medicine 22:228-233.
This study obtained data from a longitudinal survey of adolescents between the ages of 12 to 17 years in 1993 in California. “These adolescents were identified using random-digit-dialed, computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) methodology as part of the California Tobacco Surveys (CTSs). In 1993, Westat, Inc., enumerated the members of a total of 30,910 households in California and identified 6892 adolescents, who represented the baseline sample. With parental permission, in-depth interviews on tobacco issues were completed fro a total of 5531 (80.3% response rate) of these adolescents? (p. 229). In 1996, 61 percent of the 1993 respondents completed a detail follow-up telephone interview.
Findings: Thirty two percent of adolescents who were experimenters at baseline progressed to established smoking by follow-up in 1996. Males and females had similar rates of established smoking. Caucasians were more likely to progress (37.3 percent) than Latinos (21.9 percent) or African American (17.6 percent) adolescents. Adolescent who thought they could smoking anytime were more likely to progress into established smoking than those who disagreed. Adolescents who were more receptive to tobacco ads were more likely to progress as were youth exposed to other smokers (family or friends). Tobacco advertising influences smoking experimentation and progression to regular smoking.
Crawford, M A, G I Balch, and R Mermelstein. 2002. “Responses to Tobacco Control Policies among Youth.? Tobacco Control 11:14-19.
The objective of this study was to explore adolescents’ responses to current and potential tobacco control policy issues by conducting focus groups. In 1998, 129 focus groups were conducted with 785 teenagers at the 13 states of which 649 youth reported that they had smoked within the last 30 days (82.7%). 52.7 percent (n=68) were comprised of white participants and the remainder were African American (n=36 or 27.9 percent), American Indian (n=10; 7.75%), and Hispanics (n=5 or 3.9 percent).
Findings: Most youth knew of policies to decrease or reduce smoking their communities. They were aware of the age people could smoke and clean indoor acts, but were generally unaware of lawsuits against tobacco companies. They found most smoking policies weak, inconsistent, and inconsequential and that they could obtain cigarettes if they wanted. The youth thought that the warning labels seemed unthreatening by using the word may and therefore why decrease smoking. They argued the labels should say in capital letters and exclamation points “SMOKING WILL KILL YOU!!!? to get peoples attention. The ingredients within cigarettes caused concern and the adolescents wished they were made known to the public.
De La Rosa, Mario. 2002. “Acculturation and Latino Adolescents’ Substance Use: A Research Agenda for the Future.? Substance Use and Misuse 37:429-456.
This paper conducts a review of the literature on acculturation by Latino adolescents to traditional European-American cultural values and its effect on their substance-using behaviors.
Findings: There is no unifying conceptual framework. Author recommends cultural identity: the acculturation continuum. To measure acculturation scales should be constructed to allow respondents to report the degree to which their own individual characteristics are congruous with those of the dominant and Latino culture across several of the following domains (1) language usage or preference; (2) social interactions, food, and music preferences, and (3) cultural beliefs and values. The author suggests that prospective researchers need to be taught how to be sensitive to, identify, and more precisely measure the impact that cultural identity and acculturation-related stress have on the substance-using behaviors of Latino adolescents.
Elder, John P. , Alan J. Litrownik, Donald J. Slymen, Nadia R. Campbell, Deborah Parra-Medina, Sunny Choe, Virginia Lee, and Guadalupe X. Ayala. 2002. “Tobacco and Alcohol Use-Prevention Program for Hispanic Migrant Adolescents.? American Journal of Preventive Medicine 23:269-75.
The objective of this study was to evaluate a community-based tobacco/alcohol use-prevention program group compared with an attention-control condition (first aid/home safety) group to evaluate susceptibility to smoking and drinking over the past 30 days. The participants included 660 adolescent and 1 adult caregiver for each were recruited through the Migrant Education Program that involved an 8-week intervention. Random assignment of the two groups occurred in 22 schools. Seventy 8-week intervention groups were conducted. Assessments were conducted at baseline, immediate post intervention, and 1- and 2-year follow-ups. The study was conducted from January 1996 until December 1999.
Findings: “Following intervention, no between-group differences in smoking or drinking were significant. Thirty-day smoking started and remained at very low levels, with the highest group prevalence at any measurement period being 4.7% and the lowest 2.5%. Those considered susceptible to smoking dropped by nearly 40% in the attention-control group and by 50% in the intervention group from baseline to the follow-up…The current intervention was not demonstrated to be effective in preventing cigarette or alcohol consumption. This perhaps is due to very low baseline levels of smoking and drinking in the migrant youth participants? (p. 269).