Perceptions of risks of smoking among Asian Americans

Background. Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of illness and death in the United States. Few studies focus on Asian Americans, one of the fastest growing but underserved populations in the United States. Methods. A cross-sectional survey method was used for this study. The study sample was identified by using a stratified-cluster proportional sampling technique. A questionnaire was developed in English, translated into the four Asian languages (Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, and Cambodians), and back-translated. The sample consisted of 1174 individuals, distributed as follows: Chinese, 34.9%; Korean, 37.1%, Vietnamese, 16.7%; Cambodian, 8.4%; and others, 2.7%. Results. Findings indicated that attitudes toward tobacco-related dangers were associated with smoking status: former and never smokers held more negative perceptions regarding smoking compared to current smokers. Further, results indicated that the Asian American subgroups differed in their respective attitudes. The study is the first to compare attitudes toward tobacco-related dangers among racial/ethnic and language subgroups of Asian Americans. Conclusion. The growing body of empirical data on smoking among Asian Americans indicates that smoking cessation programs should take into account variations in smoking-related perceptions and attitudes across the ethnic subgroups. (C) 2003 American Health Foundation and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.