Cigarette smoking quit attempts among Cambodian Americans

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.