title: Latino and Black smokers in the Health and Retirement Study are more likely to quit: the role of light smoking.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Older persons are more vulnerable to tobacco mortality and less likely to make quit attempts. Less is known, however, about the role of race and ethnicity on quit rates in the U.S. Using a nationally representative data source of older adults in U.S., we aimed to study racial and ethnic differences in smoking cessation rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data from all waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) between 1992-2012. The HRS is a longitudinal nationally representative survey of adults over the age of 50 in the United States. We followed current smokers at baseline (year 1992) until time to first quit. Race/ethnicity was the main predictor; gender, age, education, marital status, count of chronic medical conditions, depressive symptoms, and drinking at baseline were control variables. Cox regression was used for analysis of time to quit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hazard ratios of quitting during the first ten (Hazard ratio = 1.51, p < 0.05) and 20 years (Hazard ratio = 1.46, p < 0.05) were larger for Latinos over the age of 50 compared to Whites. In addition, hazard ratios of quitting during the first 20 years (Hazard ratio = 1.19, p < 0.05) were larger for Blacks over the age of 50 compared to Whites. These findings were partially explained by cigarette consumption intensity, such that Latinos were lighter smokers and therefore more likely to quit than Whites.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Latinos and Blacks were more likely than Whites to quit smoking cigarettes within 20 years. However, this finding may be explained by cigarette consumption intensity.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas School of Public Health, Dallas Regional Campus, 6011 Harry Hines Blvd., V8.112, Dallas, TX 75390-9128 USA ; University of Texas Southwestern Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center, 6011 Harry Hines Blvd., V8.112, Dallas, TX 75390-9128 USA.
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Bandiera
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, 4250 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA ; Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 4250 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.
authors.forename: Shervin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Assari
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California, 3333 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Livaudais-Toman
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 800, Bethesda, MD 20892-5465 USA.
authors.forename: Eliseo J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Pérez-Stable
keywords: Latinos; Older persons; Smoking cessation