Research articlesPersonal space smoking restrictions among African Americans
Introduction
The effect of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on public health has been well documented. Approximately 3000 lung cancer deaths annually are caused by ETS,1 and according to one source ETS is the third leading cause of premature death and disability.2 A recent review of ETS exposure and children estimated that between 20% and 50% of children reside in “homes with at least one adult smoker,”3 and the proportion may be higher in lower-income households.3, 4 Childhood illnesses resulting from ETS exposure include lower respiratory tract infections, sudden infant death syndrome, reduced fetal growth, and exacerbation of asthma.1, 3 Early exposure to ETS during childhood and adolescence may lead to other health problems and risks as adults.3, 4, 5
In view of the significant health risks posed by ETS, legislation over the past 10 to 15 years has restricted smoking in public places and work settings, making legislation one of the more efficacious, widely implemented, and accepted social policies.1, 6 Adopting personal space smoking restrictions depends primarily on accepting beliefs about the adverse health effects of secondary smoke exposure and the voluntary efforts of individuals and families to establish and enforce social norms promoting smoke-free environments.7, 8
The few studies that examine voluntary smoking restrictions among African Americans focus mainly on home smoking bans, and find that between 21% and 38% of African Americans adopt such personal policies. In the late 1980s, Koepke et al.9 reported that a lower proportion of African-American parents in Los Angeles and San Diego did not allow smoking in the home (21.5%), compared to 39.4% of Asians, 41.3% of Hispanics, and 37.2% of Caucasians. Using data from the California Tobacco Survey (CTS), Gilpin et al.10 concluded that 38% of African Americans indicated they maintained a home smoking ban. Brownson et al.11 conducted a study in St. Louis and Kansas City on beliefs about the effects of smoking, and found a higher likelihood that African Americans, compared to Caucasians, believed that passive smoking was harmful to the health of young children and found passive smoking more bothersome. Recently, a predominately African-American study of inner-city smokers in Kansas City, Kansas revealed that 38.2% maintained a home smoking ban, and that home smoking bans were significantly related to the number of children in the household and a nonsmoking adult partner.4 In one of the few studies on car smoking bans based on the CTS, Norman et al.12 found that 54.8% of African Americans maintained a complete ban on smoking in their automobiles.
Notwithstanding the important contributions of these studies, they have not represented the broad social and geographic diversity of African Americans, as they have been either limited to a particular state (i.e., California), an urban location, or have consisted of smokers only. The present study extends previous research by examining the associations between household, social, and attitudinal characteristics of a nationally dispersed probability sample of African Americans, and two ETS reduction behaviors: adopting home and car smoking bans. This research can be useful in understanding the prevalence of and motivation to adopt home and car smoking prohibitions. These results may also offer insight into ways to increase the practice of personal space smoking restrictions among African Americans.
Section snippets
Methods
A cross-sectional sample of 37 U.S. congressional districts represented by African Americans was selected. The design consisted of a stratified cluster sample in which the four U.S. Census geographic regions that represented major strata and African-American congressional districts were purposefully chosen (n =4) or selected at random (n =6) from the number of qualified districts in a given region. Each of the ten districts constituted a cluster wherein a simple random sample of approximately
Descriptive statistics
As shown in Table 1 under “weighted percent,” 38.1% of respondents were aged ≥45 years, and 54.5% were female. Proportions with 12 years of education and some college were similar (30%); 45.2% were single/never married. Residents of the tobacco South (29.8%) constituted the largest group of respondents; the smallest proportion (9.3%) was in the West. A majority of respondents (53.7%) reported owning their homes, and 51.9% had no children aged <18 years living in the household. About 44% of
Discussion
We believe that this is the first published study based on a nationally dispersed random sample, of the opinions and practices of African Americans regarding both home and car smoking bans. It was found that the prevalence of a complete (never allowing) smoking ban was 62.0% and 70.4% for homes and cars, respectively. Differences between these findings and those of previous studies may be partly the result of changes that have taken place in the attitudes and practices of African Americans
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Cited by (19)
Longitudinal Study of Household Smoking Ban Adoption Among Korean Americans
2009, American Journal of Preventive MedicineCitation Excerpt :This finding is corroborated by formative research showing that ban adoption may be resisted or considered unnecessary by household members and family members who smoke.17 This study confirms results from cross-sectional studies15,18,19 showing that bans were associated with the belief that SHS is harmful. Ban uptake was predicted by belief that SHS causes lung cancer among smokers and nonsmokers alike (data not shown), suggesting that differences in ban adoption between smokers and nonsmokers cannot be attributed to lower levels of beliefs among smokers that SHS is harmful.
Influences on parents' decisions for home and automobile smoking bans in households with smokers
2009, Patient Education and CounselingNicotine replacement therapy: Perceptions of African-American smokers seeking to quit
2008, Journal of the National Medical AssociationA minimal intervention to promote smoke-free homes among 2-1-1 callers: A randomized controlled trial
2015, American Journal of Public HealthPublic Opinion and Policy-Making
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