Provider Smoking Cessation Advice Among California Asian-American Smokers

Purpose. To determine proportions of provider advice to quit smoking for Asian-American smokers and to describe factors that may affect the provision of such advice. Design. Secondary data analysis of population-based survey. Setting. California. Subjects. Current smokers from the California Tobacco Use Surveys for Chinese-Americans (n = 2117, participation rate = 52%), Korean-Americans (n = 2545, participation rate = 48%), and Vietnamese-Americans (n = 2179, participation rate = 63.5%). Measures. Sociodemographics including insurance status, smoking frequency, provider visit in past year, and provider advice to quit. Analysis. Multivariate logistic regression models examined dependent outcomes of (1) provider visit in past year and (2) provider advice to quit. Results. Less than a third (30.5%) of smokers in our study reported both seeing a provider (50.8%) and then receiving advice to quit (60.1%). Factors associated with provider visits included being female, being 45 years or older, having health insurance, and being Vietnamese. Among smokers who saw a provider, factors associated with provider advice to quit included having health insurance and being a daily smoker. Conclusions. Asian-American smokers reported low proportions of provider advice to quit in the past year, largely because only half of smokers saw a provider. Providers who see such smokers may need greater awareness that several effective cessation treatments do not require health insurance, and that intermittent smokers need advice to quit. (Am J Health Promot 2011;25[5 Supplement]:S70-S74.)