Open AccessBarriers to Smoking Cessation in Inner-City African American Young Adults
Author(s) -
Frances A. Stillman,
Lee R. Bone,
Érika Ávila-Tang,
Katherine Clegg Smith,
Norman Yancey,
Calvin Street,
Kerry Owings
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
american journal of public health (1971)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2006.101659
Subject(s) - smoking cessation , normative , inner city , environmental health , young adult , medicine , demography , tobacco use , inner cities , focus group , gerontology , smoke , geography , political science , socioeconomics , population , sociology , pathology , anthropology , law , meteorology
The prevalence of tobacco use among urban African American persons aged 18 to 24 years not enrolled in college is alarmingly high and a challenge for smoking cessation initiatives. Recent data from inner-city neighborhoods in Baltimore, Md, indicate that more than 60% of young adults smoke cigarettes. We sought to describe community-level factors contributing to this problem. Data from focus groups and surveys indicate that the sale and acquisition of "loosies" are ubiquitous and normative and may contribute to the high usage and low cessation rates.