Does neighborhood or residence influence continued smoking among cancer patients: a spatial-ecological and...

Continued smoking after a cancer diagnosis is causally linked to cancer-specific and all-cause mortality. Additionally, smoking, in particular after a cancer diagnosis, increases risk for poor therapeutic outcomes, chronic disease and even COV19 infection.

In order to better understand and address continued smoking among cancer patients, this research applied geospatial mapping analysis to explore the potential association of dedicated smoke/vape shops density and smoking among cancer patients.

Our findings suggest that there is an association between dedicated smoke/vape shops density and continued tobacco product use among cancer patients who live in areas with greater numbers of smoke/vape shops and higher percentage of African Americans and low socioeconomic persons. In the City of Hope-Antelope Valley Center region with an average of 1.4 dedicated smoke/vape shops per sq ml, cancer patients continue to smoke at a rate of almost 10%. This rate is almost twice the 5.2% cancer patient smoking rate of the main cancer center with an average of < 1 dedicated smoke/vape shops per sq ml.

Our study may inform cessation-related research, practice and policies so that researchers, clinicians and policymakers are well-aware of these disparities in dedicated smoke/vape shops proliferation that is disproportionately affecting minority patient, in particular cancer population.