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Cigarette smoking among gay and bisexual men
R D Stall1, G L Greenwood, M Acree
1Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco 94105, USA. rstall@psg.ucsf.edu
Objectives:
This study measured the prevalence of cigarette smoking among gay men and identified associations with smoking.
Methods:
Household-based (n = 696) and bar-based (n = 1897) sampling procedures yielded 2593 gay male participants from Portland, Ore, and Tucson, Ariz, in the spring of 1992.
Results:
Forty-eight percent of the combined sample reported current smoking, a rate far above prevalence estimates for men in Arizona (z = 14.11, P < .001) or Oregon (z = 24.24, P < .001). Significant associations with smoking included heavy drinking, frequent gay bar attendance, greater AIDS-related losses, HIV seropositivity, lower health rating than members of same age cohort, lower educational attainment, and lower income.
Conclusions:
Rates of cigarette smoking are very high among gay men. Tobacco prevention and cessation campaigns should be designed to reach the gay male community.