Prog Community Health Partnersh. 2023;17(3):379-392.
Cigarette smoking rates have decreased in the United States, particularly in California. Despite representing a large population in the United States and particularly in California, Arab Americans are not typically assessed in tobacco-related health studies. Disparately high smoking rates have been found in community samples of Arab Americans. In a formative participatory research study, we aimed to assess experiences with tobacco products and access to cessation and prevention services for Arab Americans who use commercial tobacco products.
In partnership with a community advisory board, we conducted a brief survey of adult Northern California Arab Americans who use tobacco products, both men and women (n = 101), followed by assets mapping to identify services, and focus groups with a subset of survey participants (n = 30), to assess tobacco product use, readiness to quit, and access to culturally appropriate cessation services.
The majority of people who smoked did so daily. Waterpipe use was as common as cigarette smoking, and more so for women. Intent to quit was offset by highly normative tobacco use in the social environment, and limited access to culturally appropriate cessation services.
Improvement in outreach and services specific to Arab Americans may support prevention and cessation of commercial tobacco products.
美国的吸烟率有所下降，特别是在加利福尼亚州。尽管阿拉伯裔美国人在美国，特别是在加利福尼亚州，占很大一部分人口，但他们通常不会被纳入与烟草相关的健康研究中。在阿拉伯裔美国人的社区样本中，发现吸烟率高得不成比例。在一项形成性参与式研究中，我们旨在评估使用商业烟草制品的阿拉伯裔美国人在烟草制品方面的使用经验以及获得戒烟和预防服务的机会。
我们与一个社区咨询委员会合作，对北加利福尼亚州的成年阿拉伯裔美国烟草使用者（男女均有，n=101）进行了简短的调查，随后进行资产映射以确定服务，并对调查参与者中的一部分进行焦点小组讨论（n=30），以评估烟草制品的使用情况、戒烟的意愿和获得文化上合适的戒烟服务的机会。
大多数吸烟者每天都吸烟。水烟的使用与香烟一样普遍，而且在女性中更为普遍。戒烟的意愿被社交环境中高度规范的烟草使用所抵消，而且获得文化上合适的戒烟服务的机会有限。
改善针对阿拉伯裔美国人的外展和服务可能有助于预防和戒烟商业烟草制品。
