News Release

African-American light smokers need more help with quitting

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Center for Advancing Health

The common practice of light smoking among African-Americans needs more physician attention than it currently receives since it may be unhealthier for this population than is currently assumed, according to a study.

African American smokers tend to smoke fewer cigarettes than white smokers do, which suggests they should have a lower disease risk. Yet they suffer proportionally more health consequences of smoking -- such as cancer -- compared to whites and other racial groups.

“The disproportionately high burden of tobacco-related diseases in African Americans calls for a better understanding of light smoking in this population,” said lead author Kolawole S. Okuyemi, MD, MPH, of the Departments of Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City.

Okuyemi and colleagues analyzed data on nearly 900 African-American smokers who were categorized as light, moderate or heavy smokers. Light smokers smoked less than ten cigarettes per day; moderate smokers, 10-19 cigarettes per day; and heavy smokers, 20 or more cigarettes per day.

Physicians were less likely to ask light smokers than heavy smokers whether they smoked. Physicians were also less likely to recommend light smokers have a follow-up appointment to discuss quitting smoking, compared with moderate and heavy smokers, the researchers found.

Okuyemi and colleagues speculated as to why physicians may pay less attention to the phenomenon of light smoking. Perhaps since light smokers are less likely to have illnesses that can co-exist with smoking -- such as emphysema -- physicians may be less motivated to ask about smoking or advise quitting. In addition, some physicians may minimize the risks of light smoking.

The study results are published in the current issue of the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

Similar to moderate and heavy smokers, a majority of light smokers said they wanted to quit. Light smokers were even more likely to be in the preparatory stages of quitting than the others -- meaning they expected to try to quit in the next 30 days, according to the study. “Given their advanced stage of readiness to quit, light smokers appear to be a group that could readily benefit from smoking cessation interventions,” said Okuyemi.

The researchers warn, however, that the risks of light smoking should not be ignored, particularly for African Americans. “The lower rate of cigarette consumption among African Americans is offset by their preference for high tar/nicotine and mentholated cigarettes, their tendency to inhale more deeply, their capacity to achieve higher net indexes of smoke inhalation and their slower rate of smoke metabolism,” noted Okuyemi.

More research is needed to understand both the motivations behind light smoking in the African-American population and the potential physiological differences in how African Americans metabolize nicotine compared to other racial groups.

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This study was funded by the National Cancer Institute and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars Award.

Nicotine & Tobacco Research is the official peer-reviewed quarterly journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. For information about the journal, contact Gary E. Swan, PhD, at 650-859-5322.

Posted by the Center for the Advancement of Health http://www.cfah.org. For more research news and information, go to our special section devoted to health and behavior in the “Peer-Reviewed Journals” area of Eurekalert!, http://www.eurekalert.org/restricted/reporters/journals/cfah/. For information about the Center, call Petrina Chong, pchong@cfah.org 202-387-2829.


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