The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #50451

Dorothy Faulkner, PhD¹, Gary King, PhD², Robyn Mallett², Lynn Kozlowski, PhD², Robert L. Bendel, PhD³, and Syreeta Cherry². (1) Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Drive, S.W., Atlanta, GA 30310, 770/234-5012, dfaulkner@rti.org, (2) Department of Biobehavioral Health, Penn State University, 315 E. Henderson Bldg, University Park, PA 16802, (3) Center for Environmental Health, University of Connecticut, Storrs Campus, Storrs, CT 06268

Environmental tobacco smoke is associated with serious health consequences among children, including asthma induction and exacerbation. Having smoke-free cars can reduce ETS exposure; however, little attention has been paid to this practice among African-Americans. A cross-sectional study using CATI methods was conducted, which yielded data on car smoking bans (no, yes) and their correlates. A sample of 1000 African-American adults was randomly selected from 10 predominantly African-American Congressional districts. This analysis was restricted to those who had at least one child in the home and a car (n=407). Data were weighted to reflect national age and gender distributions of African-Americans. SPSS was used to conduct the analysis. The prevalence of car smoking bans was 70.0%. Logistic regression analyses revealed that having more children (OR=2.1; 95% CI=1.1-4.1) and living in the Northeast (OR=3.9; 95% CI=1.5-9.8) increased the likelihood of car smoking bans. Conversely, having a few friends that smoked (OR=0.42; 95% CI=0.20-0.90), being a current smoker (OR=0.04; 95% CI=0.02-0.09), and disagreeing that the public should be protected from the effects of second-hand smoke (OR=0.33; 95% CI=0.13-0.82) reduced the likelihood of car smoking bans. Although the prevalence of car smoking bans among African-Americans with at least one child is encouraging, efforts to increase this percentage should be supported. The identification of population subgroups more (and less) likely to adopt personal smoking bans can help guide the development of intervention strategies.

Learning Objectives:

• List 2 health consequences of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure among kids.
• Estimate the prevalence of car smoking bans among African-American adults with at least one child in the home.
• Identify the correlates of car smoking bans.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.