218432 Does use of smokeless tobacco among adolescent cigarette smokers lead to continued smoking or smoking cessation?

Monday, November 8, 2010

Michelle O'Hegarty, PhD , Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Linda Pederson, MA, PhD , Office of Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Kat Asman, MPH , Statistics and Epidemiology Unit; Chronic & Infectious Disease Research Program, RTI International, Atlanta, GA
Ann Malarcher, PhD, MSPH , Office of Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Sara Mirza, MPH , Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Objective: The purpose was to determine whether current cigarette smokers who also used smokeless tobacco (dual users) were more likely to quit or continue smoking compared to those who did not use smokeless.

Methods: Data came from Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, using information from 3,284 current smokers (grades 7-11,169 grade 12 students were interviewed at Wave II) There is one year between Wave I and Wave II. Multivariate models were used to asses whether use of smokeless tobacco at Wave I was associated with continuation of cigarette smoking at Wave II, controlling for possible confounders.

Results: Among current cigarette smokers at Wave I, 14.5% used smokeless tobacco. Among smokers at Wave I, the proportion who reported continued cigarette smoking at Wave II was slightly lower among those who also used smokeless (73.5%) compared to those who did not(78.3%) (OR =0.71 [95% CI 0.52-0.98]. Females were more likely to continue smoking (OR = 1.29 [95% CI 1.00-1.67]) than males; African Americans (OR = 0.53 [95% CI 0.36-0.78) and Hispanics (OR = 0.65 [95% CI 0.47-0.89) were less likely to continue smoking than non- Hispanic Whites.

Conclusions: Findings are consistent with the conclusion that use of cigarettes and smokeless may not be related to continued cigarette smoking. Longer term follow-ups are needed in order to determine the stability of the relationship over time.

Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Protection of the public in relation to communicable diseases including prevention or control
Public health or related education
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1.Describe dual use (e.g. smokeless tobacco and cigarettes) among adolescents. 2.Describe if dual use predicts future smoking. 3.Identify whether adolescent dual users or adolescent current smokers are more likely to quit smoking.

Keywords: Adolescents, Spit Tobacco

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I'm the primary investigator for this research. I currently work as a Health Scientist in the Office on Smoking and Health, CDC. I over see resecher pertaining to Add Health data sets.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.