title: National Surveys and Tobacco Use Among African Americans: A Review of Critical Factors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Beginning in the 1970s, US national surveys showed African American youth having a lower prevalence of cigarette smoking than white youth. Yet, during adulthood, African Americans have a smoking prevalence comparable to white adults. Data sources chosen can contribute in different ways to understanding tobacco use behaviors among African American youth and adults; this article is a review of national and/or state-based health surveys to examine their methodology, racial and ethnic classifications, and tobacco-use related measures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven national and/or state based surveys were selected for review. Eight surveys were multitopic and included questions on tobacco use and three surveys were tobacco specific. Survey methods included telephone (4), household (3), and school (4). Three major characteristics examined for each survey were: (1) survey design and methods, (2) racial and ethnic background classification, and (3) selected tobacco smoking questions. Within these three characteristics, 15 factors considered to be important for examining tobacco use behaviors by African Americans were identified a priori using previously published reviews and studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Within survey design and methods, the majority of surveys (≥7) oversampled African Americans and did not use proxy respondents for tobacco questions. All surveys used Office of Management and Budget standard classification for race/ethnicity classification. The majority of surveys (≥7) captured five of the seven tobacco-related smoking questions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Programmatic objectives and/or research questions should guide the selection of data sources for tobacco control programs and researchers examining African American tobacco use behaviors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This review of 11 national and state tobacco-related surveys shows that these surveys provide much needed estimates of tobacco use behaviors. However, as tobacco programs and researchers seek to examine tobacco use behaviors among African Americans, it is important to consider multiple surveys as each can contribute to informing the tobacco experience in African Americans. Most importantly, programmatic objectives and/or research questions should guide the selection of data sources for tobacco control programs and researchers examining African American tobacco use behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA; itr2@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Italia V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Rolle
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, Atlanta, GA;
authors.forename: Derrick D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Beasley
authors.affiliation: Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Sara M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.affiliation: Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA;
authors.forename: Valerie J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Rock
authors.affiliation: Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA;
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Neff
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012107:Research Design; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology*; D064424:Tobacco Use / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology