Cigar Smoking Among U.S. Students: Reported Use After Adding Brands to Survey Items

Background: Among U.S. youth overall, cigars are the most commonly used tobacco product after cigarettes. However, youth who identify their products by brand names, not general terms like “cigar,” may underreport use. Purpose: To examine changes in reported cigar (cigar, cigarillo, or little cigar) smoking among students following inclusion of cigar brand examples on the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS). Methods: Data from the 2011 and 2012 NYTS and National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) were analyzed in 2013 to estimate ever and current cigar smoking, overall and by race/ ethnicity. The 2012 NYTS included cigar brand examples (Black and Mild, Swisher Sweets, Dutch Masters, White Owl, Phillies Blunt) in the survey instructions and ever use question, but the 2011 NYTS and 2011 and 2012 NSDUH did not. Results: NYTS ever cigar smoking was higher in 2012 (27.8%) than 2011 (19.5%) among black students overall. Current cigar smoking was 60%–70% higher among black females and students agedZ17 years, in 2012 than 2011. For black females, current cigar smoking (11.5%) was two times greater than that of white females (4.3%) in 2012, whereas the prevalence among these subgroups was comparable in 2011. Similar changes were not observed among these subgroups in the 2011– 2012 NSDUH. Conclusions: This study highlights the high burden of cigar use among U.S. youth and suggests that NYTS ascertainment of cigar smoking may have improved by including brands. Disparities in cigar smoking need to be addressed to prevent and reduce all youth tobacco use. (Am J Prev Med 2014;47(2S1):S28–S35) Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Journal of Preventive Medicin

Surveillance for selected tobacco-use behaviors—United States, 1900-1994

Problem/Condition: Surveillance of tobacco use is an essential component of any tobacco-control program. The information gathered can be used to guide research initiatives, intervention programs, and policy decisions. Reporting Periods: This report covers the period 1900–1994 for per capita cigarette consumption; 1965–1991 for trends in cigarette smoking prevalence and cessation; 1974–1991 for trends in the number of cigarettes smoked daily by current smokers; 1987–1991 for recent patterns of tobacco use; 1970, 1987, and 1991 for trends in cigar/pipe smoking and snuff/chewing tobacco use; 1984–1992 for trends in state-specific prevalences of regular cigarette smoking; 1987–1992 for state-specific estimates of smokeless-tobacco use; and 1976–1993 for trends in cigarette smoking among U.S. high school seniors. Description of Systems: Estimates of cigarette consumption are reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which uses data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Tobacco Institute, and other sources. The National Health Interview Survey uses household interviews to provide nationally representative estimates (for the civilian, noninstitutionalized population) of cigarette smoking and other behaviors related to tobacco use. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System uses telephone surveys of civilian, noninstitutionalized adults (³18 years of age) to provide state-specific estimates of current cigarette smoking and use of smokeless tobacco. The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research uses school-based, self-administered questionnaires to gather data on cigarette smoking from a representative sample of U.S. high school seniors. Results: During the period 1900–1963, per capita cigarette consumption increased; after 1964, consumption declined. During the years 1965–1991, current cigarette smoking prevalence among persons ages ³18 years declined overall and in every sociodemographic category examined. Decrease in current smoking prevalence was slow in some groups (e.g., among persons with fewer years of formal education). Both the prevalence of never smoking and the prevalence of cessation increased from 1965 through 1991. The prevalence of current cigarette smoking, any tobacco smoking, and any tobacco use was highest among American Indians/Alaska Natives and non-Hispanic blacks and lowest among Asians/Pacific Islanders. The prevalence of cigar smoking and pipe smoking has declined substantially since 1970. The prevalence of smokeless-tobacco use among white males ages 18–34 years was higher in 1987 and 1991 than in 1970; among persons ³45 years of age, the use of smokeless tobacco was more common among blacks than whites in 1970 and 1987. Cigarette smoking prevalence has decreased in most states. The prevalence of smokeless tobacco use was especially high among men in West Virginia, Montana, and several southern states. From 1984–1993, prevalence of cigarette smoking remained constant among U.S. high school seniors. However, prevalence increased slightly for male seniors and white seniors, decreased slightly for female high school seniors, and decreased sharply for black high school seniors. Interpretation: With the exceptions of increases in cigarette smoking among white and male high school seniors and in the use of smokeless tobacco among white males ages 18–34 years, reductions in tobacco use occurred in every subgroup examined. This decrease must continue if the national health objectives for the year 2000 are to be reached. Actions Taken: Surveillance of tobacco use is ongoing. Effective interventions that discourage initiation and encourage cessation are being disseminated throughout the United States

Gender and age differences among current smokers in a general population survey

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests a higher proportion of current smokers among female than among male ever smokers at the age above 50. However, little is known about the proportion of current smokers among ever smokers in old age groups with consideration of women in comparison to men from general population samples. The goal was to analyze the proportions of current smokers among female and among male ever smokers including those older than 80. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey study with a national probability household sample in Germany. Data of 179,472 participants aged 10 or older were used based on face-to-face in-home interviews or questionnaires. The proportions of current smokers among ever smokers were analyzed dependent on age, age of onset of smoking and cigarettes per day including effect modification by gender. RESULTS: Proportions of current smokers tended to be larger among female than among male ever smokers aged 40 or above. Women compared to men showed adjusted odds ratios of 1.7 to 6.9 at ages 40 to 90 or older in contrast to men. No such interaction existed for age of onset of smoking or cigarettes per day. CONCLUSION: Special emphasis should be given to current smokers among the female general population at the age of 40 or above in public health intervention

Smoking and Ischemic Heart Disease Disparities Between Studies, Genders, Times, and Socioeconomic Strata

Large, unexplained, but possibly related disparities exist between heart disease risks observed in differing genders, educational levels, times, and studies. Such heart disease disparities might be related to cumulative tobacco smoke damage (smoke load) disparities that are overlooked in standard assessments of point smoking status. So, I reviewed possible relationships between smoke load and heart disease levels across genders, educational strata, years, and leading studies. Smoker heart disease risk assessments in the Nurses Health Study (Nurses), Cancer Prevention Study-II (CPS-II), and British Doctors studies were compared and related to their likely selection and misclassification biases. Relationships between smoke loads and United States (US) education- and gender-related heart disease mortality disparities were qualitatively assessed using lung cancer rates as a smoke load proxy. The high heart disease mortality risks observed in smoking Nurses in 1980–2004 and in less educated US women in 2001 were qualitatively associated with their higher smoke loads and lower selection and exposure misclassification biases than in the CPS-II and Doctors studies. Smoking-attributable heart disease death tolls and disparities extrapolated from mortality ratios from the CPS-II and Doctors studies may be substantial underestimates. Such studies appear to have compared convenience samples of light smokers to lighter smokers instead of comparing representative smokers to the unexposed. Further efforts to minimize smoke exposures and better quantify cumulative smoking-attributable burdens are needed

Maternal bonding styles in smokers and non-smokers: a comparative study

BACKGROUND: Parental bonding has been implicated in smoking behavior, and the quality of maternal bonding (MB) has been associated with poor mental health and substance use. However, little is known about the association of MB and the smoking of the offspring. METHODS: In our study, 129 smokers and 610 non-smoker medical students completed the parental bonding instrument, which measures MB along two dimensions: care and overprotection. Four categories can be created by high and low scores on care and overprotection: optimal parenting (OP; high care/low overprotection); affectionless control (ALC; low care/high overprotection); affectionate constraint (AC; high care/high overprotection), and neglectful parenting (NP; low care/low overprotection). Nicotine dependence was assessed by the Fagerstrom Nicotine Dependence Test, exhaled CO level, and daily cigarette consumption (CPD). RESULTS: Higher CPD was significantly associated with lower overprotection (p = 0.016) and higher care (p = 0.023) scores. The odds for being a smoker were significantly higher in the neglectful maternal bonding style compared to the other rearing styles (p = 0.022). Besides, smokers showed significantly higher care and lower overprotection scores with the Mann-Whitney U-test than non-smokers, although these associations did not remain significant in multiple regression models. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that focusing on early life relationship between patient and mother can be important in psychotherapeutic interventions for smoking. Registration trials retrospectively registered

Multi-level, cross-sectional study of workplace social capital and smoking among Japanese employees

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Social capital is hypothesized to be relevant to health promotion, and the association between community social capital and cigarette smoking has been examined. Individual-level social capital has been found to be associated with smoking cessation, but evidence remains sparse on the contextual effect of social capital and smoking. Further, evidence remains sparse on the association between smoking and social capital in the workplace, where people are spending an increasing portion of their daily lives. We examined the association between workplace social capital and smoking status among Japanese private sector employees.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We employed a two-stage stratified random sampling procedure. Of the total of 1,800 subjects in 60 companies, 1,171 (men/women; 834/337) employees (65.1%) were identified from 46 companies in Okayama in 2007. Workplace social capital was assessed in two dimensions; trust and reciprocity. Company-level social capital was based on inquiring about employee perceptions of trust and reciprocity among co-workers, and then aggregating their responses in order to calculate the proportion of workers reporting mistrust and lack of reciprocity. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was conducted using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to explore whether individual- and company-level social capital was associated with smoking. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% credible intervals (CIs) for current smoking were obtained.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, 33.3% of the subjects smoked currently. There was no relationship between individual-level mistrust of others and smoking status. By contrast, one-standard deviation change in company-level mistrust was associated with higher odds of smoking (OR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.06-1.46) even after controlling for individual-level mistrust, sex, age, occupation, educational attainment, alcohol use, physical activity, body mass index, and chronic diseases. No clear associations were found between lack of reciprocity and smoking both at the individual- and company-level.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Company-level mistrust is associated with higher likelihood of smoking among Japanese employees, while individual perceptions of mistrust were not associated. The link between lack of reciprocity and smoking was not supported either at the individual- or company-level. Further studies are warranted to examine the possible link between company-level trust and smoking cessation in the Japanese workplace.</p

Probing the Production of Amidated Peptides following Genetic and Dietary Copper Manipulations

Amidated neuropeptides play essential roles throughout the nervous and endocrine systems. Mice lacking peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), the only enzyme capable of producing amidated peptides, are not viable. In the amidation reaction, the reactant (glycine-extended peptide) is converted into a reaction intermediate (hydroxyglycine-extended peptide) by the copper-dependent peptidylglycine-α-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM) domain of PAM. The hydroxyglycine-extended peptide is then converted into amidated product by the peptidyl-α-hydroxyglycine α-amidating lyase (PAL) domain of PAM. PHM and PAL are stitched together in vertebrates, but separated in some invertebrates such as Drosophila and Hydra. In addition to its luminal catalytic domains, PAM includes a cytosolic domain that can enter the nucleus following release from the membrane by γ-secretase. In this work, several glycine- and hydroxyglycine-extended peptides as well as amidated peptides were qualitatively and quantitatively assessed from pituitaries of wild-type mice and mice with a single copy of the Pam gene (PAM+/−) via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based methods. We provide the first evidence for the presence of a peptidyl-α-hydroxyglycine in vivo, indicating that the reaction intermediate becomes free and is not handed directly from PHM to PAL in vertebrates. Wild-type mice fed a copper deficient diet and PAM+/− mice exhibit similar behavioral deficits. While glycine-extended reaction intermediates accumulated in the PAM+/− mice and reflected dietary copper availability, amidated products were far more prevalent under the conditions examined, suggesting that the behavioral deficits observed do not simply reflect a lack of amidated peptides