Generalized Confidence Intervals Compatible with the Min Test for Simultaneous Comparisons of One Subpopulation to Several Other Subpopulations

A problem where one subpopulation is compared to several other subpopulations in terms of means with the goal of estimating the smallest difference between the means commonly arises in biology, medicine, and many other scientific fields. A generalization of Strassburger, Bretz and Hochberg (2004) approach for two comparisons is presented for cases with three and more comparisons. The method allows constructing an interval-estimator for the smallest mean difference, which is compatible with the Min test. An application to a fluency-disorder study is illustrated. Simulations confirmed adequate probability coverage for normally distributed outcomes for a number of designs

Consistency and Recanting of Ever-Smoking Status Reported by Self and Proxy Respondents One Year Apart

The study examined consistency of reports concerning current and prior smoking behaviors. Data came from the 2002–2003 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey, where the current smoking behaviors and smoking history were reported by self- and proxy-respondents on two occasions, one year apart. The ever-smoking status is reported consistently, overall: Kappa coefficient is 0.78 with the corresponding 95% confidence interval given by (0.77, 0.78). One specific type of inconsistency of prior reports was assessed for respondents who were identified as never smokers at the latter assessment and former or current smokers at the earlier assessment. Based on the survey logistic regression that controls for multiple respondent characteristics and survey administration method, the estimated prevalence of such inconsistent self-reports is 9.0%, and prevalence of inconsistent proxy-reports is 5.4%. In addition, prevalence of recanting, i.e., future reporting never smoking for respondents who previously claimed to be a former or a current smoker was assessed. The recanting was shown to be most prevalent with respect to proxy-reports and former smokers: overall prevalence of recanting was estimated to be in the range 13% – 19% for current smokers, and 27% – 46% for former smokers. Our findings indicate that while, unexpectedly, proxy-respondents are more likely to report the ever-smoking status consistently than do self-respondents, the proxies are also more likely to incorrectly report never smoking in the future for smokers especially regarding adolescents and young adults. Therefore, the observed higher level of consistency for proxy-respondents may be due to proxies’ incorrect knowledge which leads to consistent yet ambiguous responses

Impact of Menthol Smoking on Nicotine Dependence for Diverse Racial/Ethnic Groups of Daily Smokers

Introduction: The aims of this study were to evaluate whether menthol smoking and race/ethnicity are associated with nicotine dependence in daily smokers. Methods: The study used two subsamples of U.S. daily smokers who responded to the 2010–2011 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. The larger subsample consisted of 18,849 non-Hispanic White (NHW), non-Hispanic Black (NHB), and Hispanic (HISP) smokers. The smaller subsample consisted of 1112 non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN), non-Hispanic Asian (ASIAN), non-Hispanic Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (HPI), and non-Hispanic Multiracial (MULT) smokers. Results: For larger (smaller) groups the rates were 45% (33%) for heavy smoking (16+ cig/day), 59% (51%) for smoking within 30 min of awakening (Sw30), and 14% (14%) for night-smoking. Overall, the highest prevalence of menthol smoking corresponded to NHB and HPI (\u3e65%), followed by MULT and HISP (31%–37%), and then by AIAN, NHW, and ASIAN (22%–27%) smokers. For larger racial/ethnic groups, menthol smoking was negatively associated with heavy smoking, not associated with Sw30, and positively associated with night-smoking. For smaller groups, menthol smoking was not associated with any measure, but the rates of heavy smoking, Sw30, and night-smoking varied across the groups. Conclusions: The diverse associations between menthol smoking and nicotine dependence maybe due to distinction among the nicotine dependence measures, i.e., individually, each measure assesses a specific smoking behavior. Menthol smoking may be associated with promoting smoking behaviors

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Consistent Reporting of Smoking-Related Behaviors

This study assessed the effect of race/ethnicity on the prevalence of inconsistent reports regarding ever smoking, time since smoking cessation, and age of initiating regular smoking. We used the Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey data, which came from a test-retest reliability study, and considered three racial/ethnic subpopulations, Hispanics, Non-Hispanic (NH) Blacks and NH Whites. Initial exploration of highly disagreeing reports of time since smoking cessation and age of onset of regular smoking initiation indicated that the majority of these reports corresponded to NH Whites. However, the proportion of the extremely discrepant reports was very small (less than 0.8%), and these reports were not included in the main analyses. Univariate analyses revealed that for each smoking measure, NH Whites tended to report most consistently when compared to Hispanics and NH Blacks. However, the only statistically significant result was that Hispanics were more likely to report their regular smoking initiation age inconsistently than were NH Whites. Analyses that adjusted for other factors confirmed this finding, i.e., Hispanics were 1.8 times more likely to provide inconsistent reports of their age of onset of regular smoking than were NH Whites. Furthermore, these analyses showed that the impact of race/ethnicity on the prevalence of inconsistent reporting may depend on other factors, e.g., age and employment status. For example, non-employed NH Blacks were 1.9 times more likely to recant ever smoking than were non-employed NH Whites. The lower consistency in reports by Hispanics and NH Blacks underscores the importance of developing new survey design and research strategies for detecting relatively small differences in reporting among the racial/ethnic minorities. Additional efforts to motivate racial/ethnic minorities to participate in national surveys may not only help increase representation of these subpopulations in study samples but also help improve overall data quality

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Consistent Reporting of Smoking-Related Behaviors

This study assessed the effect of race/ethnicity on the prevalence of inconsistent reports regarding ever smoking, time since smoking cessation, and age of initiating regular smoking. We used the Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey data, which came from a test-retest reliability study, and considered three racial/ethnic subpopulations, Hispanics, Non-Hispanic (NH) Blacks and NH Whites. Initial exploration of highly disagreeing reports of time since smoking cessation and age of onset of regular smoking initiation indicated that the majority of these reports corresponded to NH Whites. However, the proportion of the extremely discrepant reports was very small (less than 0.8%), and these reports were not included in the main analyses. Univariate analyses revealed that for each smoking measure, NH Whites tended to report most consistently when compared to Hispanics and NH Blacks. However, the only statistically significant result was that Hispanics were more likely to report their regular smoking initiation age inconsistently than were NH Whites. Analyses that adjusted for other factors confirmed this finding, i.e., Hispanics were 1.8 times more likely to provide inconsistent reports of their age of onset of regular smoking than were NH Whites. Furthermore, these analyses showed that the impact of race/ethnicity on the prevalence of inconsistent reporting may depend on other factors, e.g., age and employment status. For example, non-employed NH Blacks were 1.9 times more likely to recant ever smoking than were non-employed NH Whites. The lower consistency in reports by Hispanics and NH Blacks underscores the importance of developing new survey design and research strategies for detecting relatively small differences in reporting among the racial/ethnic minorities. Additional efforts to motivate racial/ethnic minorities to participate in national surveys may not only help increase representation of these subpopulations in study samples but also help improve overall data quality

On Consistency of Self- and Proxy-reported Regular Smoking Initiation Age

Early onset of smoking is associated with heavier tobacco consumption and longer smoking careers. Consequently, obtaining accurate estimates of early smoking is a priority. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of proxy reports of the age of smoking initiation, and specifically to explore whether there are differences in the consistency of proxy-reported and self-reported smoking behaviors. Data came from the 2002–2003 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey, where the current smoking behaviors and smoking history of participants were reported by self-and proxy-respondents on two occasions, one year apart. Sequential multiple-testing methods were used to assess significance of the differences in reported prevalence of consistent reports among specific sub-populations defined by age, gender and survey administration mode. Results indicated that self-reports are more reliable (more consistent over time) than proxy reports or mixed reports that include self-report at one time point and proxy reports at another. The rate of perfect agreement was also highest for self-reports. The impact of respondent type on the consistency of reports also depended on the target subjects’ age and the survey administration mode (phone or in-person)

On Statistical Assessments of Racial/Ethnic Inequalities in Cigarette Purchase Price among Daily Smokers in the United States: Non-Hispanic Whites Pay Least

We discuss statistical methods suitable for comparing multiple populations versus one reference population and consider two common problems: (1) detecting all significant mean differences and (2) demonstrating that all mean differences are significant. Discussed methods include the Bonferroni approach (both problems), Min test (problem 2), and Strassburger-Bretz-Hochberg (SBH) confidence interval for estimating the smallest mean difference (problem 2). They illustrate the methods using the pooled 2010–2015 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS) data on the cigarette purchase price (per pack) reported by adult daily smokers (n = 34,728). The goal was to show that among seven considered racial/ethnic groups of daily smokers, non-Hispanic (NH) Whites paid least for cigarettes (on average). We used the design-based multiple linear regression to derive the estimates and raw p-values. The Min test supported the study goal. Likewise, SBH lower 95% confidence interval bound was $0.08, indicating that the other racial/ethnic groups of daily smokers paid at least eight cents more for a pack of cigarettes (on average) than did non-Hispanic Whites. However, Bonferroni method (that was originally proposed for problem 1) failed to support the study goal. The study highlights the importance of choosing the right statistical method for a given problem

Perception of Time Since Smoking Cessation: Time in Memory Can Elapse Faster

Self-reports concerning smoking behaviors are subject to different types of response bias that may severely affect the data quality. This study examined the evidence and extent of backward telescoping bias in reports on time since completely quitting smoking among former smokers. The study goals were to determine whether the extent of bias differs, on average, across subpopulations with diverse sociodemographic characteristics, prior smoking habits and duration of smoking abstinence, and across the survey administration mode (phone, in-person, mixed). The sample included 1,611 subjects who responded to the 2002–2003 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. Multiple regressions for subjects who quit smoking recently, some time ago, and a long time ago were fitted, where the variance was estimated via the Balanced Repeated Replications approach. The model-based estimates were used to compare the extent of response bias across diverse subpopulations of respondents. Analyses revealed a significantly smaller overall extent of response bias for respondents who were younger (p \u3c 0.01), female (p \u3c 0.01), Non-Hispanic White (p = 0.02), employed (p \u3c 0.01), who were regular (rather than occasional) smokers in the past (p \u3c 0.01), and who quit smoking recently or some time ago as opposed to a long time ago (p \u3c 0.01); a significant overall effect of survey mode was also detected (p \u3c 0.01). Male respondents who smoked occasionally in the past tended to provide the most disagreeing reports. The discrepancy in reports may be due to backward telescoping bias. Studies which use the national survey smoking cessation measures should be aware of not only possible forward telescoping (that has been addressed in the literature) but also backward telescoping. This will help correctly account for possible impaired perception of time elapsed since smoking cessation in former smokers

Smokers’ reports on receiving a doctor’s advice to quit smoking; receiving the advice is more prevalent among smokers with Crohn’s Disease relative to smokers with Ulcerative Colitis

Receiving a doctor’s advice to quit smoking is an important predictor for improving smokers’ intentions to quit smoking and successful smoking cessation. We examined reports of smokers with Crohn’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) regarding receiving a doctor’s advice to quit smoking in the past 12 months, and eval-uated the differences in the rates of receiving the advice between the CD and UC patients. The data were retrospectively reported by CD and UC patients (n = 453) who self-identified as current smokers in online assessments conducted by IBD Partners in the period from 2011 to 2014 in the USA. Statistical methods included chi-square tests and a multiple logistic regression model for the logit of the probability of receiving the advice as a function of patient’s characteristics and assessment year. Overall, about 77% of smokers reported receiving a doctor’s advice to quit smoking. The percentage was significantly (p \u3c 0.001) higher among smokers with CD (80%) than it was among smokers with UC (63%). While the specificdifferences by CD/UC depended on smoking initiation age, the overall effect of disease type on the odds of receiving the advice remained significant: the odds of receiving the advice were higher for smokers with CD relative to smokers with UC (OR = 3.6, p \u3c 0.001). Although the majority of CD and UC patients report receiving a doctor’s advice to quit smoking, the encountered difference associated with the disease type is concerning. Because long-term smoking increases cancer and mortality risks, doctors should address smoking cessation with all patients who smoke

Perception of Time Since Smoking Cessation: Time in Memory Can Elapse Faster

Self-reports concerning smoking behaviors are subject to different types of response bias that may severely affect the data quality. This study examined the evidence and extent of backward telescoping bias in reports on time since completely quitting smoking among former smokers. The study goals were to determine whether the extent of bias differs, on average, across subpopulations with diverse sociodemographic characteristics, prior smoking habits and duration of smoking abstinence, and across the survey administration mode (phone, in-person, mixed). The sample included 1,611 subjects who responded to the 2002–2003 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. Multiple regressions for subjects who quit smoking recently, some time ago, and a long time ago were fitted, where the variance was estimated via the Balanced Repeated Replications approach. The model-based estimates were used to compare the extent of response bias across diverse subpopulations of respondents. Analyses revealed a significantly smaller overall extent of response bias for respondents who were younger (p \u3c 0.01), female (p \u3c 0.01), Non-Hispanic White (p = 0.02), employed (p \u3c 0.01), who were regular (rather than occasional) smokers in the past (p \u3c 0.01), and who quit smoking recently or some time ago as opposed to a long time ago (p \u3c 0.01); a significant overall effect of survey mode was also detected (p \u3c 0.01). Male respondents who smoked occasionally in the past tended to provide the most disagreeing reports. The discrepancy in reports may be due to backward telescoping bias. Studies which use the national survey smoking cessation measures should be aware of not only possible forward telescoping (that has been addressed in the literature) but also backward telescoping. This will help correctly account for possible impaired perception of time elapsed since smoking cessation in former smokers