Abstract
Purpose
The Clinical Practice Guidelines instruct physicians to ask their patients about smoking
and to advise against tobacco use. Physicians are urged especially to attend to racial
minorities and teens because of these groups' increased susceptibility to smoking.
Research on race and physician advice against smoking has produced contradictory findings.
The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationships between physician communication
about tobacco, race, and smoking among adolescents.
Methods
This cross-sectional retrospective study explored (1) racial differences in rates
of receiving physician communication and (2) whether the relationship between physician
communication and smoking among adolescents was moderated by race. Multiple measures
of smoking status were used (e.g., intentions to quit, quit attempts, quits, relapse
status). We used a large (N = 5,154), predominately African-American (82.9%) sample
of 11th graders.
Results
Regular smokers were more likely to be screened about smoking. African Americans were
more frequently advised against tobacco than Caucasians. Among African Americans,
nonsmokers were most likely to be both screened and advised; among Caucasians, regular
were most likely to be screened and advised. Overall, physician intervention was associated
with greater benefits for young African Americans, including fewer intentions to smoke,
greater likelihood of quitting, and less relapse.
Conclusions
Physician communication about smoking may hold particular promise for African-American
teens, reducing health disparities because of racial differences in smoking-related
mortality and morbidity. Physicians should be encouraged to screen and advise all
young people about tobacco, regardless of race or smoking status.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
October 12,
2015
Received:
March 16,
2015
Footnotes
Conflicts of Interest: Neither of the authors has any competing interests.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
