Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Irma Corral, MS, Norval Hickman, MS, Hope Landrine, PhD, and Elizabeth Klonoff, PhD. SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego State University, 6363 Alvarado Court, Suite 250, San Diego, CA 92120, 619-594-3846, icorral@projects.sdsu.edu

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has been linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes. Consequently, reducing the proportion of nonsmokers exposed to ETS is currently a national health objective. Nationally, it is estimated that 53% of Mexican-Americans are exposed to unsafe levels of ETS. This study evaluates the impact of acculturation in the prevalence of household smokers, rules about ETS in the home, and amount of ETS in the home for nonsmoking Mexican-American adults in California. Using data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), a representative sample of 5402 non-smoking Mexican-American California adults (39.4% male, 60.6% female) was analyzed. ETS outcomes were examined by levels of acculturation using three different proxy-measures of acculturation. Chi square and ANOVA analyses showed significant differences in ETS exposure by level of acculturation. Specifically, more acculturated Mexican-Americans were more likely to have a smoker in the home, had more liberal rules about smoking in the home, and had more ETS exposure in the home in the past week than their less acculturated cohorts, irrespective of which proxy-measure of acculturation was used in the analyses. This study suggests that for Mexican-Americans in California, acculturation plays an adverse role in at-home ETS exposure. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for culturally-tailoring public health interventions for ETS exposure.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Recognize the role of acculturation in household ETS exposure.
• Discuss how interventions for at-home ETS exposure might be culturally-tailored for Mexican-American communities.

Keywords: Latino Health, Tobacco

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered