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.
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.
Bauman
K E
KE
School of Public Health, U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599.
Koch
G G
GG
Bryan
E S
ES
Haley
N J
NJ
Downton
M I
MI
Orlandi
M A
MA
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
D011760:Pyrrolidinones; D013861:Thiocyanates; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D003367:Cotinine