Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108498

Susan Koch-Weser, ScD¹, Sidney Liang, BS², Dorcas Grigg-Saito, MS², and Sheila Och². (1) Dept. of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard University, 677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge 7th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, 617-582-8365, susan_koch-weser@dfci.harvard.edu, (2) Cambodian Community Health 2010 Program, Lowell Community Health Center, 15-17 Warren Street, 3rd FLoor, Lowell, MA 01852

High rates of smoking are often reported for Southeast Asian men, while Southeast Asian women usually report rates much lower than the general population. The Cambodian Community Health 2010 (CCH2010) Project in Lowell, Massachusetts developed a Khmer language survey to assess behavioral health risk factors in the Cambodian community. A representative sample of adults age 25 and older were interviewed in their homes. The survey covered a wide range of health behaviors and health knowledge, as well as demographic and social factors. We found that 67.2% of men and 15.7% of women reported smoking 100 cigarettes or more in their lifetimes. However, only 30.9% of men and 11.2% of women reported smoking every day or some days, indicating that a significant number of men may have quit smoking. Cigarette smoking rates among Cambodian men appear to be declining, as there are many more men who report 100 cigarettes in their lifetime than current smoking. Despite declining rates among Cambodian men, Cambodian men over 35 smoke at much higher rates than the general Massachusetts population. Cambodian women, especially younger women, smoke much less than other women in Massachusetts. It also appears that many of the current smokers in the Cambodian community have tried to quit or intend to quit smoking. Among those who smoke, 72% had quit for one day or longer in the past year and 59% reported that they intended to quit in the next 30 days. The characteristics of smokers, non-smokers, and “quitters” are presented and compared.

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