A recent study examined racial/ethnic differences in sources of health information, types of tobacco information sought, and trust in sources of tobacco related information. Data from a nationally representative survey were analyzed.

Findings included:

• The Internet was the most common first source of health information while health care providers were the second most common source for all racial/ethnic groups.
• Tobacco-related health information seeking was more prevalent than other tobacco product information seeking.
• A higher proportion of Whites sought other tobacco product information compared to Asians and Pacific Islanders.
• Trust was rated highest for doctors while trust for health organizations was rated second highest. Asians and Pacific Islanders had higher trust in the government compared to all other groups. Blacks had higher trust in religious organizations compared to all other groups besides Hispanics. Blacks also had higher trust for tobacco companies compared to Whites and Other.
• However, many of these differences were weakened in adjusted analyses.

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A recently published study examined differences in waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) comparing sexual minority populations – those identifying with lesbian, gay, or bisexual identity – to their heterosexual counterparts using a nationally representative dataset. Continue reading →

A recently published study examined racial/ethnic differences in e-cigarette knowledge, risk perceptions, and social norms among current and former smokers.

Findings included:

• White participants scored significantly higher on e-cigarette knowledge, compared to both Hispanics and African Americans/Blacks.
• Knowledge was lower among African Americans/Blacks compared to Hispanics.
• Compared to both Whites and Hispanics, African American/Black participants held lower perceptions regarding e-cigarette health risks and were less likely to view e-cigarettes as addictive.
• Normative beliefs did not differ by race/ethnicity.

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A recent study evaluated trends from 2011-2015 in electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use among U.S. adolescents, including prevalence and associations with past month use of cigarettes and other tobacco products, cigarette smoking intensity, quit attempts, and quit contemplation. National Youth Tobacco Survey data (N = 101,011) were analyzed.

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A newly published study examined racial/ethnic differences in smoking susceptibility among US youth nonsmokers over time and age. Researchers analyzed data from nationally representative samples of youths who never tried cigarettes (ages 9-21), 1999 to 2014.

Findings included:

• Compared with non-Hispanic whites (NHWs), Hispanics were more susceptible to smoking from 1999 to 2014.
• Non-Hispanic blacks were less susceptible to smoking than NHWs from 2000 to 2009.
• Non-Hispanic Asian Americans were less susceptible to smoking from 2000 to 2009, after which they did not differ from NHWs.
• Other non-Hispanics were more susceptible to smoking than NHWs from 2012 to 2014.
• Compared with NHWs, non-Hispanic blacks and other non-Hispanics were more susceptible to smoking at ages 11 to 13 and 12 to 14, respectively.
• Hispanics were more susceptible to smoking throughout adolescence peaking at age 12 and age 16.5.
• Non-Hispanic Asian Americans were less susceptible to smoking at ages 11 to 15.

The researchers concluded that racial/ethnic disparities in smoking susceptibility persisted over time among US youth nonsmokers, especially at ages 11 to 13. Interventions to combat smoking susceptibility are needed.

Source: El-Toukhy, Sabado & Choi (2016). Trends in susceptibility to smoking by race and ethnicity. Pediatrics, 138(5).

Read the abstract at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27940778

A recent study examined neighborhood characteristics of point-of-sale (POS) e-cigarette advertising among tobacco stores. The purpose of this study was to examine socio-demographic characteristics of POS e-cigarette advertising among tobacco stores in the Omaha metropolitan area of Nebraska. Between April and June 2014, trained fieldworkers completed marketing audits of all stores that sell tobacco (n = 463) in the Omaha metropolitan area and collected comprehensive e-cigarette advertising data of these stores.

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A recent study examined racial/ethnic differences in smokers’ intentions to quit smoking within the next 6 months. The sample included 20,693 current non-occasional smokers in the U.S. who responded to the 2010-2011 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey.

Findings included:

• The rates of intention to quit within 1 month were significantly higher for non-Hispanic (NH) Blacks (21%) and Hispanics (21%) than for the NH Whites (NHW, 15%).

• The rates of intention to quit within 6 months were significantly higher for NH Blacks (46%) than for NH Whites (39%) and significantly lower for NH American Indians/Alaska Natives (38%) and NH Asians (39%) than for NH multiracial (53%) smokers.

• Most disparities existed even after adjusting for smoking-related and sociodemographic factors.

• For most racial/ethnic groups, non-daily smoking and doctor’s advice to quit were positively associated with the odds of intending to quit.

• For each racial/ethnic group, having a longer quit attempt in the past 12 months was positively associated with the odds of intending to quit.

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A recently published study examined whether race/ethnicity and use of smoking cessation aids are associated with the duration of the last serious quit attempt and reductions in cigarette consumption among long-term daily smokers who tried and failed to quit smoking during the preceding year. Data came from the 2010-2011 Tobacco Use Supplement survey conducted in the USA, and analyses included long-term daily smokers (i.e., smokers who smoked daily for 1 year or longer) who made at least one serious quit attempt in the past 12 months.

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The positive association between youth use of cannabis and tobacco is well-established, and reports show that some youth are using electronic vapor products (EVPs) to administer cannabis. A newly published study examined the prevalence and correlates of youth consumption of cannabis via EVP and how this compares with co-use of cannabis with cigars (blunts) among a large statewide sample of youth.

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