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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Lannesse O. Baker, BA¹, Jean Forster, PhD, MPH¹, Kristine Rhodes, MPH¹, and Cynthia Davey, MS². (1) Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, 1300 South Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454, 612-626-8582, bake0268@umn.edu, (2) Division of Biostatistics, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, 420 Delaware Street SE, Mayo 1444, Minneapolis, MN 55455

Objective: Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure has negative health consequences for both children and adults. Although SHS disproportionatley affects the American Indian population, little information has been collected about SHS exposure among American Indians. This presentation will describe SHS exposure and current efforts to protect children from SHS as reported by a sample of urban American Indian adults.

Methods: In person interviews were conducted with 300 urban American Indian adults in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The age by gender distribution mirrors the statewide distribution of American Indians in the 2000 Census. Chi-square analyses were conducted to test for significance at p-values < 0.05.

Results: Less than half of the adults have asked someone to not smoke around them. They are much more likely to ask others not to smoke around children, especially if they live with a young child (94% with a child < 2 years; 84% with children < 6 years). Only 48% reported they live in a smoke-free home. This is more likely if the participant is not a current smoker (71%), is female (54%) or lives with a child in the home (54%).

American Indians in this sample have made efforts to protect children from SHS by asking others to not smoke around young children but many do not have smoke-free homes. The importance of smoke free environments should be stressed. Future efforts should introduce strategies to reduce SHS exposure among all American Indian children and adults.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to

• Describe efforts of American Indian adults to reduce Secondhand Smoke

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered