The purpose of this study is to explore cigarette use patterns, which include current use, beliefs, attitudes, attempts to quit, and acculturation, among Arab immigrants. A sample of self-identified Arab immigrants (221) living in the Richmond, VA metropolitan area was recruited from Middle Eastern groceries, restaurants/lounges, and faith and charitable organizations. Men in this sample had higher rates of cigarette smoking (67.6%) than the rest of the general adult US population. Many smokers in the study had the desire to quit and had made attempts to quit. Further analysis of acculturation in relation to the risk of not considering quitting was performed using logistic regression. The older an individual was when he/she moved to the US (OR = 0.93, CI: 0.87, 0.98) and the more time an individual had spent in the US (OR = 0.93, CI: 0.88, 0.98) contributed significantly to the least number of quit attempts. Further random sampling and study is needed to confirm the high prevalence of tobacco use among this minority group.
[1] World Health Organization (2005) World Health Organization tobacco free initiative. Regional databases (Eastern Mediterranean Region). http://www.who.int/TFI/countryprofile-part6.htm
US Department of Health and Human Services (2004) Smoking and health: Report of the advisory committee of the surgeon general of the public health service. US Public Health Service, Washington DC.
US Department of Commerce Economic and Statistics Administration, US Census Bureau (2003) United States census 2000.
US Department of Health and Human Services (2000) Healthy People 2010. Government Printing Office, Washington DC.
Kahende, J., Teplinskaya, A., Malarcher, A., Husten, C. and Maurice, E. (2007) State-specific prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults and quitting among persons aged 18-35 years—United States, 2006. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, 56, 993-996.
Jamil, H., Templin, T., Fakhouri, M., Rice, V.H., Khouri, R. and Fakhouri, H. (2009) Comparison of personal characteristics, tobacco use, and health status in Chaldean, Arab American, and non-Middle Eastern White adults. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health/Center for Minority Public Health, 11, 310-317. doi:10.1007/s10903-008-9125-7
Kulwicki, A. and Rice, V. (2003) Arab American adolescent perceptions and experiences with smoking. Public Health Nursing, 20, 177-183. doi:10.1046/j.0737-1209.2003.20304.x
Centres for Disease Control (CDC) (2012) Fact sheet: Smoking and tobacco use. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm
Rice, V. and Kulwicki, A. (1992) Cigarette use among Arab immigrants in the Detroit metropolitan area. Public Health Reports, 107, 589-594.
Rudmin, F. (2009) Constructs, measurements and models of acculturation and acculturative stress. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 33, 106-123. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2008.12.001
Lechuga, J. (2008) Is acculturation a dynamic construct: The influence of method of priming culture on acculturation. Hispanic Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 30, 324-339. doi:10.1177/0739986308319570
Newman, J. and Sahak, Z. (2012) Purchasing patterns of migrant groups: The impact of acculturation on ethnocentric behaviours. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42, 1551-1575.
Taras, V. (2012) Instruments for measuring acculturation. http://people.ucalgary.ca/~taras/_private/Acculturation_Survey_Catalogue.pdf
Barry, D. (2005) Measuring acculturation among male Arab immigrants in the United States: An exploratory study. Journal of Immigrant Health, 7, 179-184. doi:10.1007/s10903-005-3674-9
Al-Omari, H. and Scheibmeir, M. (2009) Arab immigrants’ acculturation and tobacco smoking. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 20, 227-233. doi:10.1177/1043659608330353
Schwartz, S., Weisskirch, R., Zamboanga, B., CastilloL, H.L., Huynh, Q., Park, I., Donovan, P., Kim, S., Vernon, M., Davis, M. and Cano, M. (2011) Dimensions of acculturation: Associations with health risk behaviours among college Students from immigrant families. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 58, 27-41. doi:10.1037/a0021356
Lara, M., Gamboa, C., Kahramanian, M.I., Morales, L.S. and Hayes Bautist, D.E. (2005) Acculturation and Latino health in the United States: Review of the literature and its sociopolitical context. Annual Review of Public Health, 26, 367-397. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144615
Timothy, P., Johnson, B., VanGeest, J. and Cho, Y. Ik (2002) Migration and substance abuse: Evidence from the US national health interview survey. Substance Use & Misuse, 37, 941-972.
Lee, L., Nguyen, S. and Tsui, H. (2011) Interview language: A proxy measure for acculturation among Asian Americans in a population-based survey. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 13, 244-252. doi:10.1007/s10903-009-9278-z
Himmelgreen, D., Pérez-Escamilla, R., Martinez, D., Bretnall, A., Eells, B., Peng, Y. and Bermúdez, A. (2004) The longer you stay, the bigger you get: Length of time and language use in the US are associated with obesity in Puerto Rican women. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 125, 90-96. doi:10.1002/ajpa.10367
Cruz, T., Marshall, S., Bowling, J. and Villaveces, A. (2008) The validity of a proxy acculturation scale among US Hispanics. Hispanic Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 30, 425-446. doi:10.1177/0739986308323653
Berry, W. (1980) Acculturation as Varieties of Adaptation. In: Padilla, A.M., Ed., Acculturation: Theory, Models and Some New Findings, Westview Press, Boulder, 9-25.
Choney, K., Berryhill-Paapke, E. and Robbins, R. (1995) The acculturation of American Indians: Developing frameworks for research and practice. In: Ponterotto, J.G., Casas, J.M., Suzuki, A. and Alexander, M., Eds., Handbook of Multicultural Counselling, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, 73-92.
Choi, S., Ranking, S., Steward, A. and Oka, R. (2008) Effects of acculturation on smoking behaviour in Asian Americans: A meta analysis. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 23, 67-73.
Carabaloo, R.S. and Lee, C.W. (2006) Tobacco use among Mexicans and their descendants in the United States. Salud Pública de México, 46, 241-250. http://www.aaiusa.org/arabamericans/22/
Fagan, F., Augustson, P., Backinger, E., O’Connell, C., Vollinger, M., Kaufman, R., Gibson, A. and Quit, T. (2007) Attempts and intention to quit cigarette smoking among young adults in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 97, 1412-1420. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2006.103697
Young, Y., Hopkins, R., Smith, R. and Hogarth, M.D. (2010) Smoking cessation: The potential role of risk assessment tools as motivational triggers. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 86, 26-33.
Ward, Y., Swan, M.M. and Jack, L.M. (2001) Self-reported abstinence effects in the first month after smoking cessation. Addictive Behaviors, 26, 311-327. doi:10.1016/S0306-4603(00)00107-6
Marin, M., Perez-Stable, E. and Marin, B. (1989) Cigarette smoking among San Francisco Hispanics: The role of acculturation and gender. American Journal of Public Health, 79, 196-198. doi:10.2105/AJPH.79.2.196
US Census Bureau (2012) The Arab population. http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-23.pdf 2003
Zakaria, N. (2000) The effects of cross-cultural training on the acculturation process of the global workforce. International Journal of Manpower, 21, 492-510. doi:10.1108/01437720010377837
Baker, O. (2005) Relationship of parental tobacco use, peer influence, self-esteem, and tobacco use among Yemeni-American adolescents: Mid range theory testing. Ethnicity and Disease, 15, 69-71.
Rice, V., Weglicki, L., Templin, T., Hammad, A., Jamilm H. and Kulwickim A. (2006) Predictors of Arab American adolescent tobacco use. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 52, 327-342. doi:10.1353/mpq.2006.0020
Templin, T., Rice, H., Gadelrab, H., Weglicki, L., Hammad, A., Kulwicki, A., Al-Omran, H., Al-Faouri, I., Baker, O., Jamil, H., Thompson, F., Dakroub, M. and Abou-Mediene, S. (2005) Trends in tobacco use among Arab-American adolescents: Preliminary findings. Ethnicity and Disease, 15, 65-68.
Haddad, L. and Petro-Nustas, W. (2006) Predictors of intention to quit smoking among Jordanian university students. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 97, 9-13.
MacNee, C. and Talsma, A. (1995) Predictors of progress in smoking cessation. Public Health Nursing, 12, 242-248. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1446.1995.tb00143.x
Maziak, W., Ward, K.D., Afifi Soweid, R.A. and Eissenberg, T. (2004) Tobacco smoking using a waterpipe: A reemerging strain in a global epidemic. Tobacco Control, 13, 327-333. doi:10.1136/tc.2004.008169
Abou-Mediene, S., Rice, V.H., Jamil, H., Templin, T., Hammad, A., Weglicki, L., Kulwicki, A., Al-Faouri, I., Al-Omran, H., Baker, O., Dakroup, M. and Thompson, F. (2005) A comparison of psychosocial factors and tobacco use among Arab and Arab-American Adolescents: Preliminary findings. Ethnicity and Disease, 15, 60-65.
Harrabi, I., Maaloul, J.M., Gaha, R., Kebaili, R., Maziak, W. and Ghannem, H. (2010) Comparison of cigarette and waterpipe smoking among pupils in the urban area of Sousse, Tunisia. La Tunisie Medicale, 88, 470-473.
Knishkowy, B. and Amitai, Y. (2005) Water-pipe (narghile) smoking: A merging risk behaviour. Pediatrics, 116, e113-e119. doi:10.1542/peds.2004-2173