Menthol Smoking and Nicotine Dependence among Black/African American Women Smokers Living in Low-Resource, Rural Communities

Dina M. Jones, Margarete C. Kulik, Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, Sandilyn Bullock, Mignonne C. Guy and Pebbles Fagan
Additional contact information
Dina M. Jones: Center for the Study of Tobacco, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham Street, Box #820, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA
Margarete C. Kulik: Center for the Study of Tobacco, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham Street, Box #820, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA
Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati: Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, SSB 302M 2001 N. Soto Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
Sandilyn Bullock: Center for the Study of Tobacco, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham Street, Box #820, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA
Mignonne C. Guy: Department of African American Studies, College of Humanities and Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, 816 W. Franklin Street, Room 201, Richmond, VA 23284, USA
Pebbles Fagan: Center for the Study of Tobacco, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham Street, Box #820, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 20, 1-17

Abstract: Black/African American women from low-resource, rural communities bear a disproportionate burden of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. This study examined associations between menthol smoking and socioeconomic deprivation with nicotine dependence and quitting behaviors among Black/African American women cigarette and/or little cigar/cigarillo smokers, aged 18–50 living in low-resource, rural communities. Baseline survey data from a randomized controlled behavioral/intervention trial (#NCT03476837) were analyzed ( n = 146). Outcomes included time to first tobacco product (cigarette/little cigar/cigarillo) use within 5 min of waking, Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) score, and ever attempting to quit cigarettes. Socioeconomic deprivation measures included education, income, and receiving supplemental nutritional assistance (SNAP) program benefits. In adjusted regression analyses, menthol smoking was associated with both greater FTND scores and time to first tobacco product use within 5 min of waking, but not ever attempting to quit cigarettes. Regardless of menthol status, only 25.0% of smokers reported that they would quit smoking if menthol cigarettes were banned. The proportion of smokers who smoked their first tobacco product within 5 min of waking increased slightly with greater socioeconomic deprivation. Additional research and targeted efforts are needed to reduce nicotine dependence among Black/African American women smokers living in rural, low-resource communities where access to cessation services is limited.

Keywords: menthol; nicotine dependence; tobacco; African Americans; rural; low income; cigarette; little cigar; cigarillo; cessation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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