332200
Transgender Tobacco Use in a National Sample of Adults
methods:The survey was conducted online by The GfK Group as part of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (N=17,522), oversampling for smokers. This study focuses on a sub-sample of 168 self-identified transgender participants, collected as part of a convenience sampling strategy. Analysis describes transgender participants’ self-reported current (Past 30-day) use of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and cigars; in addition to ever use of hookah and dissolvable tobacco products.
results: Transgender participants reported extremely high levels of current tobacco use: any (72.6%), cigarettes (67.3%), e-cigarettes (41.1%), and cigars (47.0%). Similarly, ever use of less common products was unusually high: dissolvables (29.8%) and hookah (42.9%).
conclusions: Transgender participants appear to use tobacco at higher rates than the general population, based upon this convenience sample. This study establishes the foundation and need for additional research to confirm these initial findings. While convenience sampling is useful for reaching vulnerable populations, there should be an effort to develop additional effective sampling strategies to reach transgender people as convenience sampling has its limitations. These findings are exploratory and cannot be extrapolated to the larger transgender population without confirmation from future studies. Should these findings be confirmed, there is a need to identify predictors associated with tobacco-related disparities among transgender populations so that effective tobacco-prevention campaigns can be developed, tailored, and disseminated to population the highest risk.
Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health educationDiversity and culture
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Describe transgender populations apparent elevated risk for tobacco in this sample.
Explain the importance of further understanding the causes of tobacco-related disparities among transgender people.
Discuss sampling concerns when exploring vulnerable populations.
Keyword(s): Tobacco Control, Health Disparities/Inequities
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a sociologist (masters) and a public health (Ph.D.) researcher. I have worked in tobacco control and prevention over the last eight years, focusing on tobacco-related health disparities among young and diverse populations. Over the past three years my research has focused on LGBT populations. I am the principle investigator on a TRDRP-funded postdoctoral project to understand and reduce tobacco-related disparities among LGBT. I have experience as contracting as an analyst with Point Foundation.
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.