MINORITY WOMEN AND TOBACCO - IMPLICATIONS FOR SMOKING CESSATION INTERVENTIONS

Quitting smoking is the single most important preventive health behavi or a woman can perform to significantly reduce her chances of morbidit y and premature mortality. Minority women are an extremely important p opulation to target for smoking cessation intervention. Rates and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and cancer are markedly higher am ong women of certain minority groups. In addition, smoking prevalence rates in women of some ethnic groups are elevated relative to the majo rity population of women, and specific groups have displayed slower ra tes of decline in smoking. Furthermore, minority women fend to have le ss access and appeal to be less responsive to smoking cessation progra ms aimed at the majority culture. Thus, consideration of the practical and cultural needs of ethnic minority women is imperative when design ing smoking intervention programs. This article describes the smoking behaviors of African-American, American Indian and Native Alaskan, Asi an and Pacific Islander; and Hispanic women smokers, in order to gain a greater under-standing of the treatment needs of these women. Inform ation on prevalence rates and smoking patterns, barriers to quitting, and findings from intervention studies within each population are revi ewed as well as recommendations for smoking cessation treatment.