Correlates of cigarette smoking among low-income African American women

This study examines individual and contextual correlates of cigarette smoking in a randomly selected, community-based sample of low-income African American women.

The study sample was selected by using a two-stage area probability sample design.

Participants were recruited from > 12,000 housing units selected from 39 census tracts in the city of Detroit.

Participants for this study include a total of 921 women who completed the baseline assessment of a randomized clinical trial aimed at improving the oral health of African American families.

Past month prevalence of cigarette use and number of cigarettes smoked during this period.

Data were analyzed with fixed-effects and multilevel statistics. Social support was the only variable associated, inversely, with current smoking. Self-reported feelings of anger were positively associated, though marginally, with current smoking. Between-neighborhood variance was small, and no neighborhood level variables were associated with cigarette smoking.

Previously established risk factors did not predict cigarette use in this randomly selected, community-based sample of low-income African American women. Further research is needed to identify risk and protective factors that might be unique to low-income African American populations in order to better inform preventive and cessation interventions.