Smoking and the Asian American workforce in the National Latino and Asian American Study.

BACKGROUND

Smoking among the Asian American workforce has not been extensively researched. This study examines smoking prevalence among a nationally representative sample of Asian Americans with an emphasis on occupational classification.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data come from the National Latino and Asian American Study. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine smoking prevalence by occupation, gender, and nativity, among 1,528 participants self-identifying as in the labor force.

RESULTS

Blue collar workers reported the highest smoking prevalence (32%) followed by unemployed (19%), other (17%), service (14%), and white collar (10%). Among both employed males and females, blue collar workers had the highest prevalence (45% and 18%, respectively). By nativity, smoking was highest among blue collar workers for immigrants (25%) and highest among the unemployed for U.S. born (16%). Blue collar employment was significantly associated with being a current smoker (OR = 2.52; 95% CI: 1.23-5.16; P < 0.05) controlling for demographics (e.g., age, gender, ethnic group, nativity, etc.).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings reveal that smoking differs by occupation among Asian Americans. Future research should examine factors explaining differences while considering gender and nativity.