Elsevier

Addictive Behaviors

Volume 24, Issue 1, January–February 1999, Pages 115-120
Addictive Behaviors

Short Communication
Smoke constituent exposure and stage of change in black and white women cigarette smokers

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4603(98)00031-8Get rights and content

Abstract

Differences in smoke constituent exposure by ethnicity and menthol preference and differences in decisional balance and habit strength by stage of change, ethnicity, and menthol preference were examined in this 2-factor study design. Ninety-five women, half of whom were Black and half of who smoked menthol cigarettes, participated in a cigarette smoking bout in the Clinical Research Center. Measures of smoking topography, plasma cotinine and nicotine, and expired carbon monoxide were obtained in addition to self-report of the pros and cons of smoking, time to first cigarette, and smoking history. Black women smoked significantly fewer cigarettes per day, but had higher cotinine levels compared to White women. Menthol smokers (n = 49) had significantly larger puff volumes, higher cotinine levels, and shorter time to first cigarette compared to nonmenthol smokers (n = 46). Precontemplators (n = 44) were significantly lower on beliefs about the negative aspects of smoking compared to contemplators and those in preparation stage. Black women, all stages combined, had higher negative beliefs about smoking than did White women. Implications for assessment of smoking patterns and intervention are discussed.

Section snippets

Participants

A 2-factor factorial study design was implemented with 95 women stratified by ethnicity and menthol/nonmenthol preference. Recruitment in community settings and worksites resulted in 48 Black and 47 White women participants, with about half of each ethnic group preferring menthol cigarettes (n = 27 in Blacks; n = 22 in Whites). Participants were paid $40 for their involvement in the study.

Procedure

Women who had been instructed to smoke ad libitum prior to enrollment were admitted to the Clinical

Measures

Exposure to carbon monoxide was determined in a sample of expired air measured in parts per million (ppm) with Bedfont Mini Smokerlyzer equipment (Innovative Medical Marketing, Medford, NJ). Plasma nicotine and cotinine were assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography (Hariharan, VanNoord, & Greden, 1988). Cotinine per self-reported cigarette ratio was calculated to yield an indicator of exposure per cigarette (Perez-Stable, Marin, Marin, Brody, & Benowitz, 1990). Sociodemographic and

Sample description

The sample included 95 women with an average age of 34.6 years (SD = 11.3) and a mean of 13.4 years of education (range 10 to 17 years). Smoking patterns of the sample included an average 15.3 (SD = 10.4) years of regular smoking at a rate of 17 cigarettes per day (SD = 9.2). The most frequently used cigarette brands were Marlboro (26%), Newport (18%), and Kool (10.5%). As a result of stratified recruitment, menthol cigarettes were used by 53% of the sample. Distribution of stages of change was

Discussion

Several findings on smoke constituent exposure and ethnicities were consistent with the literature. Higher cotinine levels in Black women compared to White women were similar to the findings of Wagenknecht et al. (1990) and to our earlier work in a smaller sample of Black and White women (273 ng/ml cotinine vs. 188 ng/ml in Black and White smokers, respectively) (Ahijevych et al., 1996). With significantly fewer cigarettes per day, Black women in the present study achieved higher exposure

Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by an American Lung Association Research Grant, and General Clinical Research Center M01 RR00034.

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