title: Ethnic variations in the prevalence of smoking among registered nurses.
abstract: A survey of smoking behavior was conducted on 1,569 registered nurses in six unrelated acute care hospitals in Los Angeles in 1984-1985. Smoking prevalence, higher than for other health professionals but lower than for women in the United States or in other recently surveyed samples of nurses, was closely linked to the ethnicity and the age distribution of the nurses surveyed. Patterns for black and white nurses, who account for the majority of nurses nationally, were similar to those found in other recent studies of registered nurses. Among Asian nurses, however, prevalence was lower, age of initiation was higher, and the mean number of cigarettes smoked daily was lower than for other nurses. Smoking prevalence for younger nurses was lower than for other nurses, and these nurses were more likely to report themselves as never having smoked. Smoking patterns among nurses remain a significant public health concern.
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Gritz
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Berman
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Marcus
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Read
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Kanim
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Reeder
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000367:Age Factors; D001213:Asian; D002140:California; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D044465:White People