Does a Race-Gender-Age Crossover Effect Exist in Current Cigarette Smoking Between Non-Hispanic Blacks and Non-Hispanic Whites? United States, 2001-2013.

INTRODUCTION: For years, national US surveys have found a lower prevalence of cigarette smoking among non-Hispanic (NH) black adolescents and young adults than their NH white counterparts while finding either similar or higher prevalence in NH blacks among older adults. We present results from four US surveys, including one supplemented by cotinine data, to determine if a race-gender-age crossover effect exists between NH black and NH white current cigarette smokers. METHODS: We present NH black and NH white current cigarette smoking estimates in the National Youth Tobacco Survey (2004-2013), National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2002-2013), National Health Interview Survey (2001-2013), and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2001-2012). RESULTS: All surveys consistently found that NH black females aged 12-25 years had a lower smoking prevalence than NH white females of the same age while NH black males aged 26 years or older had a higher smoking prevalence than NH white males of the same age. Results were inconsistent between surveys for current smoking estimates for males 12-25 years and females aged 26 years or older. CONCLUSION: Our results are inconclusive in consistently detecting the existence of a race-gender-age crossover effect for current cigarette smoking between NH blacks and NH whites. National birth cohort studies are better suited to detect a race-gender-age crossover effect in smoking prevalence between these two racial groups.

Reactions of adult smokers and former smokers to current US warning labels.

OBJECTIVE: To assess current and former smokers' reactions to US warning labels as a baseline for comparison to new labels. METHODS: The mail-in Consumer-Styles survey was sent to a representative sample of US adult consumers in 2010 (N = 10,328). RESULTS: Among current smokers, 51.5% (95% CI: 47.5-55.5) reported that they had 'never/rarely' seen or looked closely at the labels in the past 30 days. Current smokers (91.1%) reported that warning labels never stopped them from having a cigarette (95% CI: 89.1-93.1) and that the labels had no effect on their likelihood of quitting (75.5%; 95% CI: 71.6-79.4). CONCLUSIONS: Current warning labels do not make smokers think about the risks of smoking or have an effect on their likelihood of forgoing cigarettes or quitting.

Tobacco use, cessation, and home smoking rules in a Hispanic community.

OBJECTIVE: To determine prevalence of smoking, quit ratios, and home smoking rules among Hispanics residing in colonias in El Paso, Texas. METHODS: Face-to-face interviews with 1485 Hispanic adults. GeoFrame™ field enumeration methods were used to develop a sampling frame from households in randomly selected colonias. RESULTS: The overall percent of current cigarette smoking was 14.6% (95% CI 12.4 to 16.8); Over 55% of smokers reported a serious quit attempt. Participants overwhelmingly reported that smoking was not allowed in their homes. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence estimates for current smoking and restriction in the home were similar to those reported for recent national surveys.

Epidemiology of menthol cigarette use in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Approximately one-fourth of all cigarettes sold in the United States have the descriptor "menthol" on the cigarette pack. It is important to determine what socio-demographic factors are associated with smoking menthol cigarettes if indeed these types of cigarettes are related to smoking initiation, higher exposure to smoke constituents, nicotine dependence, or reduced smoking cessation. METHODS: The National Cancer Institute (NCI) conducted a review of the scientific literature on this topic which we completed by adding more recently published articles via PubMed. We also conducted further data analyses using the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the National Youth Tobacco Survey, the Monitoring the Future Survey, and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to provide up-to-date information on this topic. RESULTS: Menthol cigarettes are disproportionately smoked by adolescents, blacks/African Americans, adult females, those living in the Northeast of the United States and those with family incomes lower than $50,000. Based on self-reports of menthol cigarette use, menthol cigarette use among smokers have increased from 2004 to 2008. However, no increase was observed during these years for predominantly menthol brands like Newport™, Kool,™ and Salem™, however, this lack of significant trend may be due, at least in part, due to smaller numbers of smokers of specific brands or sub-brands, which provide estimates which are less precise. CONCLUSION: Menthol cigarettes are disproportionately smoked by groups of U.S. cigarette smokers. It is likely that other disparities in menthol cigarette use exist that we have not covered or have not been studied yet.

Linking quantity and frequency profiles of cigarette smoking to the presence of nicotine dependence symptoms among adolescent smokers: findings from the 2004 National Youth Tobacco Survey.

INTRODUCTION: Identifying trajectories of cigarette smoking based on usage patterns is important in elucidating the pathway from initiation to nicotine dependence. Various methods have been used to identify different smoking patterns based on either quantity or frequency smoked. METHODS: This paper examines the link between smoking exposure and nicotine dependence symptoms while looking at both daily and less-than-daily smokers in a nationally representative sample. RESULTS: Our study found a distinct pattern of cigarette smoking among adolescents aged 12-18 years, suggesting a trajectory in which smokers typically progressed through the following steps: smoking less than 1 cigarette on 1-5 days per month; smoking 1-5 cigarettes on 1-5, 6-9, 10-19, 20-29, and 30 days; and then smoking 6-10 cigarettes on 30 days, 11-20 on 30 days, and more than 20 on 30 days. Few smokers deviated from this pattern. A dose-response relationship was observed between this smoking pattern and having any of the four nicotine dependence symptoms and also with the number of reported nicotine dependence symptoms. DISCUSSION: The relationship we found between smoking exposure and nicotine dependence symptoms is consistent with the homeostasis-sensitization theory: according to which sensitization involves periods in which a person is increasing the number of cigarettes smoked per day and homeostasis occurs when the number of cigarettes smoked per day remains stable. We provide data that can be used in future studies to update and expand the work on trajectories.