"What are You Doing?" with Dr. Olivia Carter Pokras

Last week, we checked in with Dr. Sunmin Lee, who was presenting her study on health disparities in the Asian-American community at the NIH Summit. Today, we explore the findings of Dr. Olivia Carter-Pokras, who presented her work on youth tobacco at the NIH Summit as well.

By the way, many times versions of what you read on the Healthy Turtle are published elsewhere, most notably the Association of Schools of Public Health's Friday Letter. Put out weekly (guess which day it is published on?), the newsletter reports what Schools of Public Health around the country are doing. For more information about the Friday Letter or to see past issues, visit http://fridayletter.asph.org. Now to Dr. Carter-Pokras and this edition of "What are You Doing?"

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Smoking statistics are alarming; smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease and death, costing the state of Maryland more than $2 billion each year, which works out to about $7.40 per pack. For youth in particular, one out of every three high school seniors less than 18 years of age who are current smokers will die early because of their smoking.

Overall, teen tobacco users are most likely among their peers to use alcohol and illegal drugs, participate in violent acts, suffer from mental health problems, and engage in high-risk sexual behaviors.

That's just some of what Dr. Olivia Carter-Pokras, Associate Professor in the Department of Epideimiology and Biostatistics, found in her study "Disparities in Tobacco Use Behaviors by Youth Minority Populations in Maryland." She presented her findings at the "NIH Summit: The Science of Eliminating Health Disparities," held in Washington, D.C. from December 15-17.

“As President-elect Obama has shared from his personal experience, it is difficult to quit smoking,” Dr. Carter-Pokras said. “One out of every three high school seniors less than 18 years of age who are current smokers will die early because of their smoking.”

Using the 2006 Maryland Youth Tobacco Survey (MYTS), Dr. Carter-Pokras' found that the overall prevalence of youth tobacco use was around 15 percent, and that males, youth with more friends who use tobacco, and youth who live with an adult smoker were the most likely to use tobacco among their peers.

The study also demonstrates significant disparities among ethnic and racial minority groups in their use of tobacco. These groups were less likely than Whites to perceive that nicotine was addictive, that secondhand smoke was harmful, or that smokers had shorter lives. Minority youth were also most likely to believe that smoking cigarettes would help them make friends, would help them fit in or was a "cool" thing to do.

"Addressing the diversity of our community in our tobacco strategies and programs is important for consistent and comprehensive tobacco control in Maryland," Dr. Carter-Pokras said in her presentation. "Patterns of tobacco use among racial and ethnic minority groups are the result of complex interactions of multiple factors including low socioeconomic status."

The presentation at the NIH Summit marked the first national dissemination of the findings from a tobacco disparities evaluation project that Dr. Carter-Pokras leads for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Center for Health Promotion, Education & Tobacco Use Prevention with Cigarette Restitution Funds. Other team members from the project include Mr. Cong Ye, Mr. Mariano Kanamori, Mr. Rajiv Ulpe, Ms. Lu Chen, Dr. Robert Feldman, Dr. Carolyn Voorhees, Dr. Sunmin Lee, Dr. Guangyu Zhang, Dr. Jacquie Wallen, Dr. Suzanne Randolph, Dr. Richard Valliant and Dr. Frauke Kreuter.

“Data from the Maryland tobacco surveys can contribute to the national dialogue regarding pending U.S. Senate legislation to provide the Food and Drug Administration with the authority to regulate tobacco products,” Dr. Carter-Pokras said. “More than half of Maryland youth who smoke, smoke flavored cigarettes. If the Senate bill is passed and signed into law, flavored cigarettes will be banned.”

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Thanks to Dr. Olivia Carter-Pokras for sharing her research. She has been recognized by the Surgeon General, Assistant Secretary for Health and Latino Caucus of the American Public Health Association for her career achievements to improve racial and ethnic data and develop national health policy to address health disparities.