title: On the measurement of tobacco use by adolescents. Validity of self-reports of smokeless tobacco use and validity of cotinine as an indicator of cigarette smoking.
abstract: This study assessed the validity of self-reports of smokeless tobacco use by adolescents and the validity of cotinine as a measure of adolescent cigarette smoking. For a sample of 1,854 persons aged 12-14 years living in the southeastern United States in 1985, a combination of three biochemical measures (salivary cotinine, salivary thiocyanate, and alveolar carbon monoxide) and self-reports of cigarette smoking were used to identify subjects who used only smokeless tobacco and subjects who did not use smokeless tobacco. The sensitivity and specificity of self-reports of smokeless tobacco use were 40.8% and 97.9%, respectively. It was determined that of the 175 subjects who ordinarily would be considered smokers because they had salivary cotinine levels greater than or equal to 10 ng/ml, 43.4% used only smokeless tobacco.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599.
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Bauman
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Bryan
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Haley
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Downton
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Orlandi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D003367:Cotinine / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011760:Pyrrolidinones / Q000032:analysis*; D012463:Saliva / Q000032:analysis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013861:Thiocyanates / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D014026:Nicotiana; D014030:Tobacco, Smokeless; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D011760:Pyrrolidinones; D013861:Thiocyanates; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D003367:Cotinine