Learning Objectives: Identify the state of tobacco use among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders based on the existing studies.
Abstract: Comprehensive tobacco use information of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (API), especially its subgroups, is rare in the current literatures. In this session, Dr. Moon Chen, Jr. will present the results from his study, in which smoking prevalence was measured by both self-report and biochemical verification among Southeast Asian (Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese). Dr. Joel M. Moskowitz will report findings from a recent tobacco use study among Korean in Alameda County, and compare the results to all Californians. Dr. Hao Tang will provide a summary of the state of tobacco use among API subgroups in California by using the results from 1999 California Tobacco Survey.
In Dr. Chen's study, the self-reported smoking prevalence is higher among Southeast Asian men (> 25%) than Southeast Asian women (< 10%). However, biochemically verified rates among Southeast Asian women were about three times greater than their self-reported rates and hence statistically significant.
Dr. Moskowitz reports that Korean American males were more likely to be current smokers and less likely to be former smokers, as compared to all California males. Korean American females were less likely to be current or former smokers as compared to all California females.
Dr. Tang reports that female respondents who speak English at home were much more likely to smoke cigarette than those who speak their native languages at home. For male respondents, the same trend is only observed among Chinese.
The results indicate that some cultural elements may play an important role in tobacco use among Asian sub-populations.
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