Assessment of Key Characteristics and Smoking Behavior of NYC Korean Community

Background-

Korean American smoking rates can be as high as 39 percent. However, city and state cessation programs have difficulty reaching out to Korean communities because of limited understanding of this group's characteristics. Understanding socio-demographic and smoking behaviors will help tailor smoking cessation campaigns that can better reach this population. This study assesses characteristics of a cohort of NYC Korean smokers.

Methods-

Through various venue-based events advertised by local Korean newspaper, TV, and radio, 500 Koreans living in NYC voluntarily enrolled in the Nicotine Replacement Therapy in 2008-2009. Upon receiving nicotine patches, an 11-item survey was self-administered to assess socio-demographic characteristics and smoking behaviors. Tobacco use questions were adapted from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Results-

Preliminary analysis of the data indicates the majority of participants were male (77%), married (66.1%), and attained a college education (51.1%). 44.8% of the participants fell within the 35-54 age group. Among the male smokers 88.8% smoked daily and 60.6% have attempted to quit smoking within the past 12 months. Data will be further analyzed to identify key characteristics.

Discussion-

Koreans are reported to have the highest rate of smoking within the API community, but there is also a strong willingness to quit. Findings show more than half of Korean males have attempted to quit smoking within the past year. This discrepancy can be minimized by tailoring cessation campaigns to better reach this group.