title: A transnational study of migration and smoking behavior in the Mexican-origin population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined migration-related changes in smoking behavior in the transnational Mexican-origin population.
  
  
  METHODS
  We combined epidemiological surveys from Mexico (Mexican National Comorbidity Survey) and the United States (Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys). We compared 4 groups with increasing US contact with respect to smoking initiation, persistence, and daily cigarette consumption: Mexicans with no migrant in their family, Mexicans with a migrant in their family or previous migration experience, migrants, and US-born Mexican Americans.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with Mexicans with a migrant in their family or previous migration experience, migrants were less likely to initiate smoking (odds ratio [OR] = 0.56; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.38, 0.83) and less likely to be persistent smokers (OR = 0.41; 95% CI = 0.26, 0.63). Among daily smokers, the US-born smoked more cigarettes per day than did Mexicans with a migrant in their family or previous migration experience for men (7.8 vs 6.5) and women (8.6 vs 4.3).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evidence suggests that smoking is suppressed among migrants relative to the broader transnational Mexican-origin population. The pattern of low daily cigarette consumption among US-born Mexican Americans, noted in previous research, represents an increase relative to smokers in Mexico.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Tancredi
authors.forename: Guilherme
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Kravitz
authors.forename: Ladson
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hinton
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aguilar-Gaxiola
authors.forename: Maria Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Medina-Mora
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Breslau
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult