Decreases in Smoking Prevalence in Asian Communities Served by the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Project

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 100; no. 5; pp. 853 - 860
• Main Authors: YOULIAN LIAO, TSOH, Janice Y, GILES, Wayne H, CHEN, Roxana, FOO, Mary Anne, GARVIN, Cheza C, GRIGG-SAITO, Dorcas, LIANG, Sidney, MCPHEE, Stephen, NGUYEN, Tung T, TRAN, Jacqueline H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Public Health Association 01.05.2010
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Asian; Asian Americans; Behavior; Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; Biological and medical sciences; California - epidemiology; Cambodia - epidemiology; Cardiovascular disease; Cervical cancer; Cigarettes; Community; Design; Diabetes; Disease control; Disease prevention; Education; Filipino Americans; Health disparities; Health Promotion; Health surveillance; Health Surveys; Hispanic Americans; Humans; Infant mortality; Intervention; Male; Medical sciences; Mens health; Middle Aged; Minority & ethnic groups; Miscellaneous; Pacific Islander people; Pacific Islands - ethnology; Project evaluation; Public health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Research and Practice; Risk factors; Smoking; Smoking - epidemiology; Smoking - ethnology; Studies; Surveillance; Tobacco, tobacco smoking; Toxicology; Trends; Vietnam - epidemiology; Young Adult; Vietnam; California; Cambodia; Pacific Islands; United States > US; Tobacco; Prevalence; Race; Tobacco smoking; Community health; Community; Ethnic group; Public health
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2009.176834

We examined trends in smoking prevalence from 2002 through 2006 in 4 Asian communities served by the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) intervention. Annual survey data from 2002 through 2006 were gathered in 4 REACH Asian communities. Trends in the age-standardized prevalence of current smoking for men in 2 Vietnamese communities, 1 Cambodian community, and 1 Asian American/Pacific Islander (API) community were examined and compared with nationwide US and state-specific data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Prevalence of current smoking decreased dramatically among men in REACH communities. The reduction rate was significantly greater than that observed in the general US or API male population, and it was greater than reduction rates observed in the states in which REACH communities were located. There was little change in the quit ratio of men at the state and national levels, but there was a significant increase in quit ratios in the REACH communities, indicating increases in the proportions of smokers who had quit smoking. Smoking prevalence decreased in Asian communities served by the REACH project, and these decreases were larger than nationwide decreases in smoking prevalence observed for the same period. However, disparities in smoking prevalence remain a concern among Cambodian men and non-English-speaking Vietnamese men; these subgroups continue to smoke at a higher rate than do men nationwide.