Homeless former smokers' interest in helping homeless current smokers quit
Kate Goldade1, Hongfei Guo, Don Des Jarlais
1Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 55414, USA. kgoldade@umn.edu
Purpose:
To describe the factors associated with interest of homeless former smokers in helping homeless smokers quit.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey administered to an optimized convenience sample of homeless persons (n = 4570) at emergency shelters, transitional housing units, and open encampments in 80 cities across Minnesota. The in-person survey response rate was 90%.
Analysis:
Chi-square tests and t-tests for univariate analysis.
Results:
Of 4534 participants completing the smoking questions, 546 participants (12%) self-identified as former smokers, of which 59% expressed interest in helping homeless smokers quit. Significant predictors of reported interest in helping included racial/ethnic background (p < .05), number of people known who had quit smoking (p < .01), and receiving social services as an adult (p < .01).
Conclusion:
Homeless former smokers are a potential resource for peer support programs to promote smoking cessation among homeless current smokers.
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