The Association of Menthol Cigarette Use With Quit Attempts, Successful Cessation, and Intention to Quit Across Racial/Ethnic Groups in the United States.
BACKGROUND
Few studies have examined the relationship between menthol use and smoking cessation across various racial/ethnic groups; the findings were mixed. This study explored the association of menthol cigarette use with quit attempts, smoking cessation, and intention-to-quit among US adults and by race/ethnicity.


METHODS
Using the 2006/2007 and 2010/2011 Tobacco Use Supplements to the Current Population Survey data, this study analyzed 54 448 recent active smokers, defined as current smokers or former smokers who quit less than 12 months ago. Three behaviors were examined: any quit attempts in the past 12 months, successful cessation for ≥3 months, and intention-to-quit smoking in the next 6 months. For each cessation behavior, multiple logistic regression models were estimated separately for the full-sample and stratified racial/ethnic subsamples.


RESULTS
While 72.3% of African American recent active smokers typically smoked menthol cigarettes, this proportion was 21.7%, 21.5%, and 28.0% for whites, Asians, and Hispanics, respectively. African American menthol smokers had higher odds of quit attempts compared to non-African American, non-menthol smokers (full-sample analysis), as well as African American non-menthol smokers (subsample analysis). Menthol use was not significantly associated with quit attempts in other racial/ethnic subsamples. There was no significant difference in either successful cessation or intention-to-quit between menthol and non-menthol smokers.


CONCLUSIONS
African American menthol smokers were more likely to attempt to quit smoking than non-menthol smokers but these quit attempts did not translate into successful cessation. This study revealed no association of menthol use with quit attempts, successful cessation, and intention-to-quit among other racial/ethnic groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggested that African American menthol smokers were more motivated to quit smoking; yet, the results also indicated no significant differences in successful cessation between African American menthol and non-menthol smokers. Interventions targeting menthol smokers within the African American community may help bridge this gap. While more local sales restrictions are beginning to occur (eg, Tobacco 21 efforts), additional policies restricting price discounting as well as the regulation of access to and the time, place, and/or manner of menthol tobacco advertising could also improve cessation rates. Further evaluation is needed to determine the viability of these policies.
Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
Courtney
C
Keeler
Institute for Health and Aging, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, CA.
Wendy
W
Max
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, CA.
Valerie
V
Yerger
Institute for Health and Aging, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, CA.
Tingting
T
Yao
Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA.|Department of Medicine, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA.
Michael K
MK
Ong
Institute for Health and Aging, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, CA.
Hai-Yen
HY
Sung
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D000368:Aged; D000073865:Cigarette Smoking / Q000208:ethnology*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D008610:Menthol; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D000074285:Smokers / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D062789:Tobacco Products; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
D008610:Menthol