Cigarette smoking among gay and bisexual men.
OBJECTIVE
This study measured the prevalence of cigarette smoking among gay men and identified associations with smoking.


METHODS
Household-based (n = 696) and bar-based (n = 1897) sampling procedures yielded 2593 gay male participants from Portland, Ore, and Tucson, Ariz, in the spring of 1992.


RESULTS
Forty-eight percent of the combined sample reported current smoking, a rate far above prevalence estimates for men in Arizona (z = 14.11, P < .001) or Oregon (z = 24.24, P < .001). Significant associations with smoking included heavy drinking, frequent gay bar attendance, greater AIDS-related losses, HIV seropositivity, lower health rating than members of same age cohort, lower educational attainment, and lower income.


CONCLUSIONS
Rates of cigarette smoking are very high among gay men. Tobacco prevention and cessation campaigns should be designed to reach the gay male community.
Stall
R D
RD
Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco 94105, USA. rstall@psg.ucsf.edu
Greenwood
G L
GL
Acree
M
M
Paul
J
J
Coates
T J
TJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001130:Arizona / Q000453:epidemiology; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009922:Oregon / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*