title: The density of tobacco retailers and its association with attitudes toward smoking, exposure to point-of-sale tobacco advertising, cigarette purchasing, and smoking among New York youth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Estimate the association between the density of licensed tobacco retailers (LTRs) and smoking-related attitudes and behaviors among middle and high school students in New York.
  
  
  METHODS
  The 2000-2008 New York Youth Tobacco Surveys were pooled (N=70,427) and linked with county-level density of LTRs and retailer compliance with laws restricting youth access to cigarettes. Logistic regressions tested for associations with attitudes toward smoking exposure to point-of-sale tobacco advertising, cigarette purchasing, and smoking prevalence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  LTR density is associated with self-reported exposure to point-of-sale advertising in New York City (NYC) among all youth (OR=1.15; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.30) and nonsmokers (OR=1.14; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.30); youth believing that smoking makes them look cool, overall (OR=1.75; 95% CI: 1.22, 2.52) and among nonsmokers (OR=1.68; 95% CI: 1.11, 2.55); and a counter-intuitive negative relationship with frequent smoking in NYC (OR=0.50; 95% CI: 0.29, 0.84). Retailer compliance was negatively associated with youth reporting that a retail store is their usual source for cigarettes (OR=0.93; 95% CI: 0.88, 0.98).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Restricting tobacco licenses and enforcing youth access laws are reasonable policy approaches for influencing youth smoking outcomes.
authors.affiliation: RTI International, 3040 E. Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. loomis@rti.org
authors.forename: Brett R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Loomis
authors.forename: Annice E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Andrew H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Busey
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Farrelly
authors.forename: Jeffrey G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Willett
authors.forename: Harlan R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Juster
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000329:Advertising / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D003132:Commerce / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011640:Public Policy; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D000074606:Smoking Prevention