Smoking and survival among Kentucky women diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer: 1995-2005.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether smokers with cervical cancer were more likely to die from cervical cancer compared with non smokers after adjusting for confounding factors. METHODS: A population-based survival analysis was conducted among 2661 women diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer and reported to the Kentucky Cancer Registry from 1995-2005 and linked with state vital records and the National Death Index through 12/31/2005. A standard Kaplan - Meier approach was used in this survival analysis and Cox Proportional Hazards modeling was used to estimate adjusted hazard [aHR] ratios and 95% confidence intervals [CI] for smoking and survival for all cause and cervical cancer specific cause of death. RESULTS: Almost half of women diagnosed with cervical cancer (48.6%) were known to be current smokers based the medical record review and reporting to KCR. For another 19.4% no tobacco status was documented (missing) and 32.1% were known non smokers. After adjustment for age and stage at diagnosis, cell type, rural residence, race, insurance coverage, and treatment received, current smoker were 35% more likely to die of any cause (aHR=1.35; 95% CI=1.17-1.56) and 21% more likely to die of cervical cancer (aHR=1.21; 95% CI=1.01-1.46) compared with known non smoking cases. CONCLUSION: These data strongly suggest that smoking reduces cervical cancer survival.

Characteristics of participants enrolled in a Quit and Win smoking cessation program.

Quit and Win smoking cessation incentive programs have been used to promote community-based smoking cessation in the United States and internationally. The Quit and Win contest has been offered annually by the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department since 2001. In order to engage in continuous quality assessment of the Quit and Win program, demographic analysis of program participants is critical to better extend the marketing message to target audiences. The goal of this analysis is to report various baseline parameters of the 2003 Lexington-Fayette County Quit and Win contest cohort. Of the 876 participants, most were white, had at least a high school education, smoked cigarettes for more than 10 years, and had multiple previous quit attempts. Most anticipated using nicotine replacement products to aid the current quit attempt. The demographic information from this analysis can be used to design future programs that target a wider segment of the population.