Long-term age-specific prevalence of cigarette smoking among Hispanics in the United States.
To investigate trends in the prevalence of cigarette smoking among different age groups of Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, and Puerto Rican-Americans, the smoking histories of 8,286 adults and adolescents from the 1982-83 Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES) were evaluated. Age-specific prevalence rate curves were constructed by using the estimated smoking rates among 8-, 18-, 28-, 38-, 48-, and 58-year-olds from 1923 to 1983. Age-specific rates were higher for men than for women. However, rates declined over time among all age groups of Mexican-American men, and among Cuban-American and Puerto Rican-American men older than 18 years. In contrast, rates for Mexican-American women did not change appreciably over time, but they increased markedly for 28- and 38-year-old Cuban-American women and most age groups of Puerto Rican-American women. These results suggest that rates of cigarette smoking among Hispanic women are beginning to converge with those of Hispanic men, and that rates of smoking initiation among Cuban-American boys and Puerto Rican-American boys and girls have either remained unchanged or increased markedly over time.
Escobedo
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LG
Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
Remington
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PL
Anda
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RF
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003462:Cuba / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000208:ethnology; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States