Effect of menthol cigarettes on biochemical markers of smoke exposure among black and white smokers
nicotine; tobacco; Respiratory System; General & Internal Medicine; women; menthol; americans; carbon monoxide; cotinine; lung-cancer risk; nonmenthol cigarettes; serum cotinine levels
Study objectives: Black smokers have been reported to have higher serum cotinine levels than do white smokers, and have higher rates of most smoking-related diseases, despite smoking fewer cigarettes per day. Another striking racial difference is the preference for mentholated cigarettes among black smokers. The contribution of menthol to variability in biochemical markers of cigarette smoke exposure (end-expiratory carbon monoxide and serum cotinine) was evaluated in a biracial sample. Design: Descriptive cross-sectional. Setting: A university smoking research laboratory. Participants: Sixty-five black and 96 white adult established smokers who were paid for their participation. Measurements: Information was obtained through direct observation, self-report (interview and self-administered questionnaires), measurement of butts collected for a week, and laboratory analyses of the biochemical markers of exposure. Results: Compared with the white smokers, the black smokers had significantly higher cotinine and carbon monoxide levels per cigarette smoked and per millimeter of smoked tobacco rod (both p<0.001). After adjusting for race, cigarettes per day, and mean amount of each cigarette smoked, menthol was associated with higher cotinine levels (p=0.03) and carbon monoxide concentrations (p=0.02). Conclusions: The use of methanol may be associated with increased health risks of smoking. Menthol use should be considered when biochemical markers of smoke exposure are used as quantitative measures of smoking intensity or as indicators of compliance with smoking reduction programs. In addition, the effect of menthol on total ''dose'' should be considered in any efforts to regulate the amount of nicotine in cigarettes.
Clark P I; Gautam S; Gerson L W
Chest
1996
1996-11
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1378/chest.110.5.1194" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1378/chest.110.5.1194</a>
BLACK-WHITE DIFFERENCES IN SERUM COTININES - MEASUREMENT ERROR OR GENETICS
Environmental & Occupational Health; Public
Clark P I; Caldito G; Hlaing W; Sprafka J M
American Journal of Epidemiology
1994
1994-06
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
n/a
ELEVATED SERUM COTININE IN BLACK-AND-WHITE MENTHOL CIGARETTE SMOKERS
Cardiovascular System & Cardiology
Clark P I; Caldito G; Gerson L W
Circulation
1994
1994-10
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
n/a
Anti-tobacco socialization in homes in African-American and White parents, and smoking and nonsmoking parents.
Ohio; Child; Focus Groups; Socialization; Human; Questionnaires; Chi Square Test; Funding Source; Interviews; Adolescence; Audiorecording; Blacks; Whites; Survey Research; Parental Attitudes – Ethnology; Parenting – Ethnology; Smoking – In Adolescence; Smoking – Prevention and Control – In Adolescence
PURPOSE: To examine parental perceptions and behaviors with regard to teen smoking, comparing African-American and white parents, and those who did and did not smoke. METHODS: Focus groups consisting of African-American and white parents who smoked provided initial in-depth information. A computer-assisted telephone survey of a biracial sample of 311 parents of children ages 8 to 17 years provided more generalizable information regarding parental beliefs and behaviors. RESULTS: Nearly 50% of households either allowed teen smoking, had no ground rules, or had set restrictive rules but never communicated them to the children. Compared to white parents, African-American parents felt more empowered to affect their children's behaviors and were more likely to actively participate in anti-tobacco socialization within the home (all p values \textless 0.01). Among the African-American parents, 98% reported 18 years or older to be an appropriate age for teens to make up their own minds about using tobacco, whereas 26% of white parents thought 16 years to be an appropriate age (p \textless 0.001). Parents who smoked reported more frequent rule-making than those who did not smoke (p = 0.02), but were more likely to believe that childhood tobacco use is inevitable (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Many parents are not engaged in antitobacco socialization in the home. Differences in the degree of parental participation may contribute to the variance in smoking prevalence between African-American and white children.
Clark P I; Scarisbrick-Hauser A; Gautam S P; Wirk S J
Journal of Adolescent Health
1999
1999-05
Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/s1054-139x(98)00117-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/s1054-139x(98)00117-7</a>
Scientific and ethical issues in the use of placebo controls in clinical trials.
*Ethics; *Patient Advocacy; *Placebos; Clinical Trials as Topic/*standards; Humans; Medical; Placebo Effect; Safety; Science/*standards; Treatment Outcome
Clark P I; Leaverton P E
Annual review of public health
1994
1905-06
Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.pu.15.050194.000315" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1146/annurev.pu.15.050194.000315</a>
Anti-tobacco socialization in homes of African-American and white parents, and smoking and nonsmoking parents.
*African Americans/psychology/statistics & numerical data; *Attitude to Health/ethnology; *European Continental Ancestry Group/psychology/statistics & numerical data; *Parenting/ethnology/psychology; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior/psychology; Adult; Case-Control Studies; Child; Family Health/ethnology; Female; Focus Groups; Health Surveys; Humans; Male; Ohio/epidemiology; Parents/psychology; Self Efficacy; Smoking/epidemiology/*psychology; Socialization; Statistics as Topic
PURPOSE: To examine parental perceptions and behaviors with regard to teen smoking, comparing African-American and white parents, and those who did and did not smoke. METHODS: Focus groups consisting of African-American and white parents who smoked provided initial in-depth information. A computer-assisted telephone survey of a biracial sample of 311 parents of children ages 8 to 17 years provided more generalizable information regarding parental beliefs and behaviors. RESULTS: Nearly 50% of households either allowed teen smoking, had no ground rules, or had set restrictive rules but never communicated them to the children. Compared to white parents, African-American parents felt more empowered to affect their children's behaviors and were more likely to actively participate in anti-tobacco socialization within the home (all p values \textless 0.01). Among the African-American parents, 98% reported 18 years or older to be an appropriate age for teens to make up their own minds about using tobacco, whereas 26% of white parents thought 16 years to be an appropriate age (p \textless 0.001). Parents who smoked reported more frequent rule-making than those who did not smoke (p = 0.02), but were more likely to believe that childhood tobacco use is inevitable (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Many parents are not engaged in antitobacco socialization in the home. Differences in the degree of parental participation may contribute to the variance in smoking prevalence between African-American and white children.
Clark P I; Scarisbrick-Hauser A; Gautam S P; Wirk S J
The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine
1999
1999-05
Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/s1054-139x(98)00117-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/s1054-139x(98)00117-7</a>
Response error in self-reported current smoking frequency by black and white established smokers.
*African Americans; *European Continental Ancestry Group; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Bias; Cotinine/*analysis; Female; Humans; Incidence; Male; Reproducibility of Results; Smoking/*epidemiology/ethnology; Surveys and Questionnaires
As compared with white smokers, black smokers, although they report using fewer cigarettes per day, are at higher risk for most smoking-related diseases. Among black smokers serum cotinine levels are also higher in proportion to cigarettes per day; this observation has led to suggestions of bias in self-reporting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the extent of errors in self-reported smoking patterns among black and white established smokers. Ninety-seven white and 66 black smokers participated in structured telephone interviews, filled out two self-administered questionnaires one week apart, and collected all of their cigarette butts for a week. Group differences in the validity of self-reported smoking patterns were assessed by comparison with cigarette butt counts and the measured butt lengths. Both black and white smokers significantly overestimated smoking on our measure of smoking frequency (both P \textless 0.001); the group difference in bias was not significant (P = 0.13). There was no evidence that underreporting was more common among blacks than among whites (P = 0.67). Test-retest reliability was not significantly different in the two groups (P = 0.09). Both groups performed poorly when asked to categorize their smoking frequency according to the cutpoints of the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence. Black smokers smoked more of each cigarette and smoked longer cigarettes, but they smoked fewer total millimeters of cigarettes per day (all P \textless 0.001). Contrary to an earlier report, the disproportionately high cotinine levels could not be attributed to reporting error.
Clark P I; Gautam S P; Hlaing W M; Gerson L W
Annals of epidemiology
1996
1996-11
Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/s1047-2797(96)00049-x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/s1047-2797(96)00049-x</a>