Smoking, Acculturation and Family Cohesion in Mexican-American Women

Objective: To compare the characteristics of smokers and non-smokers in a setting that includes predominately Mexican-American women, with particular attention to acculturation, nativity and family cohesion.

Design: Cross-sectional survey in a public hospital women's clinic.

Methods: A self-administered survey was completed by gynecologic patients. It assessed: demographics, acculturation, birthplace and family cohesion. Comparisons of ever/never smokers and current/non-smokers were made using chi-square tests. Stratified analysis was used to assess for confounding.

Results: Smoking was very common in the white non-Hispanic group (ever smoking 86%, current smoking 70%). High rates were also seen among certain subgroups of Mexican-American women: US-born (ever smoking 65%, current smoking 44%), high acculturation (ever smoking 57%, current smoking 40%) and those with less cohesive families (ever smoking 67%, current smoking 67%). Stratified analysis revealed that place of birth and family cohesion, controlling one for the other, had adjusted prevalence ratios for current smoking of 3.7 (95% CI 1.5, 9.0) and 3.2 (95% CI 1.3, 8.1) respectively.

Conclusion: Very high rates of smoking were observed among white non-Hispanic patients and certain subgroups of Latino subjects in this population. In Latinos, being US-born and having membership in a less cohesive family unit were independently associated with smoking.