PURPOSE: To examine the premise whether or not a longer intervention period would change the smoking prevalence and recent-quitting rates among Vietnamese Americans. PROCEDURES: The media-led intervention included health education material distribution, media campaign and advertisement, public speaking, community events, continuing medical education, smoking cessation classes, quit smoking contest, and worksite education. All intervention elements were developed by bilingual staff and carried out in Vietnamese. A pre- and post-intervention quasi-experimental control group design was used to evaluate the intervention. The intervention community was Santa Clara County, California and the control community was Greater Houston, Texas. The 5309 respondents were interviewed by telephone and sampled from listed area directories. FINDINGS: The cigarette smoking rates among Vietnamese American men remain very high at 35%, compared to the United States male rate of 27%. The recent-quitting rates are low at 3.3%. The predictors for non current smoking status are being between 18 to 24 years old, being 65 years or older, being college educated, having good or fluent English language proficiency, and having immigrated to the U.S. before 1978. There were no changes in the smoking prevalence and recent quit rates among Vietnamese American men after extending the intervention period by 11 months. CONCLUSIONS: Mass media was not effective in a tobacco control intervention among Vietnamese American men. There is a need to develop tobacco control policies, theories and strategies that are appropriate for this population.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to recognize the tobacco control media-led intervention elements and design, the smoking prevalence and recent-quitting rates among Vietnamese Americans, and the need to develop tobacco control policies, theories, and strategies that are appropriate for this population
Keywords: Tobacco Control, Asian and Pacific Islander
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.