A population-based examination of racial and ethnic differences in receiving physicians' advice to quit smoking

We examined the rate of physician-delivered smoking cessation advice in the United States over time for five different racial/ethnic groups. We analyzed three waves (1992--1993, 1995--1996, 1998--1999) of population-based survey data (Tobacco Use Supplement of the Current Population Survey) to examine the relationship between a smoker's race/ethnicity and past-year receipt of physician-delivered smoking cessation advice. Results of a multivariate logistic regression showed no difference in the receipt of advice as a function of a smoker's race/ethnicity in any of the surveys, with the exception of 1998--1999, after controlling for factors such as smoker's gender, years of education, household income, and cigarettes smoked per day. In the 1998--1999 survey, Asian smokers were more likely to report receiving smoking cessation advice from a physician relative to non-Hispanic White smokers. With the exception of American Indian/Alaska Native smokers, the receipt of advice by each racial/ethnic group increased significantly from the 1992--1993 survey to the 1998--1999 survey, after controlling for gender, age, education, and cigarettes smoked per day. Because rates of advice for American Indian/Alaska Native smokers did not increase over time, specific public health interventions should be developed and integrated into medical settings serving smokers from American Indian/Alaska Native communities.