Protecting minors from secondhand smoke in automobiles

On January 1, 2008, California enacted a law that bans smoking in automobiles when children are present. We used an epidemiologic approach to investigate Cambodian American adults' awareness of this law. Cambodian Americans (especially men) have a high prevalence of smoking. A stratified, random sample of respondents (n = 1,014; females = 60.3%; mean age = 49.7 years) was obtained from census tracts with high concentrations of Cambodian Americans who reside in Long Beach, California. A cross-sectional survey collected information on demographic characteristics and awareness of this law. A total of 78.2% of respondents were aware of the law. A logistic regression analysis found that significant demographic predictors of awareness of the law were age, marital status, employment, and smoking status. In comparison with the reference group (persons aged 18 to 29 years), those aged 50 to 59 years were 2.4 times (95% CI = 1.2 – 5.0) more likely, and persons aged 60 to 69 years were 3.1 times (95% CI = 1.3 – 7.4) more likely, respectively, to be aware of the law. Married persons were 2.1 times (95% CI = 1.4 – 3.0) more likely than non-married persons to report awareness. Unemployed persons were 2.3 times (95% CI = 1.5 – 3.6) more likely than employed persons to report awareness. Current smokers were 2.9 times (95% CI = 1.4 – 6.2) more likely than non-smokers to report awareness. Consequently, those most aware of the law were 60 to 69 years of age, married, unemployed, and current smokers.