Title: Assessing cigarette smoking levels of intensity among Californian adults

Authors: Salome K. Mshigeni; Anhthu Nguyen; Julian C. Sacdalan

Addresses: Department of Health Science and Human Ecology, California State University in San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California, USA ' Department of Health Science and Human Ecology, California State University in San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California, USA ' Community and Global Health, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California, USA

Abstract: This study assessed the prevalence of cigarette smoking by demographic characteristics. We conducted interactions between gender and race/ethnicity, and one's smoking status. We utilised secondary data comprised of 22,160 participants. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to predict the probability of participants' level of smoking intensity. Majority were non-smokers (93.1%), majority were female (51.2%). Many had a bachelor's degree (23.9%) or some college, or an associate degree (22.8%). Many participants (59.8%) were married/living with a partner, and (25.7%) were single. Most participants spoke English (55.4%) and the largest race/ethnic groups were White (40.2%) followed by Latinos (21.8%). Age distribution was: 18 to 29-year-olds (22.9%), 30 to 39-year-olds (17.6%) and 40 to 49-year-old (16.2%). Findings suggest that one's demographics characteristics do play a role in smoking levels. Hence, public health efforts should create evidence-based interventions that fit each group to reduce disparities among smokers in California.

Keywords: cigarette; smoking; intensity; levels; demographics; disparities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBHR.2022.127118

International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research, 2022 Vol.8 No.3/4, pp.157 - 174

Received: 24 Dec 2021
Accepted: 17 Feb 2022
Published online: 22 Nov 2022 *

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