Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

Abstract #154712

Robert Friis, PhD¹, Mohammed Forouzesh, PhD¹, Kimthai Kuoch², Sheetal Monga, MS³, and Sarah Long, BS⁴. (1) Health Science, California State University Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840, 562-985-1537, rfriis@csulb.edu, (2) Cambodian Association of America, 2390 Pacific Ave, Long Beach, CA 90806, (3) Department of Health Science, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840, (4) Health Science, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90804

We examined the association of sociodemographic factors with smoking cessation among Long Beach Cambodian Americans, a high prevalence group for cigarette smoking. Long Beach, California, contains the largest settlement of Cambodians (n ~ 50,000) outside of Cambodia. Among Cambodians, cultural and traditional factors influence cigarette smoking, which is more common among men than among women. The present research used a convenience sample of 472 adults (mean age = 39 years, 53% female) who had completed a smoking survey during focus group interviews and participation in a Cambodian New Year celebration. The sample consisted of 99 ever smokers and 64 current smokers (21.0% and 13.5% of the sample, respectively). A total of 69 respondents had attempted to quit smoking in the past. Of this number, 47 had resumed cigarette smoking. We used bivariate analyses with chi-square tests and Fisher's exact tests to explore the association of self-reported health, marital status, income, education, and gender with smoking status among those who had attempted to quit smoking. Status as a quitter was associated with good health (P = .06) and higher income levels (P = .05). Other variables were not significantly associated with quitting smoking. This research suggested that interventionists should account for income level when designing appropriate smoking cessation strategies for Cambodian Americans. Maintenance of smoking cessation is likely to engender positive health benefits.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss smoking prevalence among Cambodians.
• Indentify one smoking cessation strategy for use among Cambodians.
• List two cultural factors associated with smoking among Cambodians.

Keywords: Smoking Cessation, Asian Americans

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.