Smoking behaviors and regular source of health care among African Americans

The purpose of the study was to determine associations between having a regular source of health care, advice from a physician to quit smoking, and smoking-related behaviors among African American smokers.

A secondary analysis was conducted on data obtained from an intervention study with a posttest assessment of the effectiveness of smoking status as a vital sign. The setting was an adult walk-in clinic at a large inner-city hospital and 879 African American adult current smokers were examined.

Among African American smokers, there was an association between having a regular source of health care and planning to quit smoking within the next 30 days (OR = 1.46; 95% CI: 1.04-2.05), receiving physician advice to quit (OR = 1.46; 95% CI: 1.02-2.10), and smoking < or =10 cigarettes a day (OR = 1.42; 95% CI: 1.00-2.03).

African American current smokers with a regular source of health care were further along the quitting process than those without a regular source of health care. Our findings indicate a potential benefit of complementing programs that increase physician cessation advice rates with policies that increase rates of health insurance and the likelihood that individuals have a regular source of health care.