Contact: For copies of articles or full table of contents of an issue, call Kimberly Short, 202-777-2511, or email her.
American Journal of Public Health highlights:
1. Military combat during deployment linked to higher risk of smoking among military2. For smokers, e-cigarette use linked to lower likelihood of decreasing cigarette consumption
Note: Hyperlinks to the studies will go live following the embargo lift on April 16, 2015, at 4 p.m. EDT.
Military deployment with combat experience is linked to higher risk of smoking among military service membersNew research from the American Journal of Public Health finds that deployment accompanied with military combat is a predictor of smoking initiation among U.S. military personnel.
The study used data from the Millennium Cohort Study, designed to evaluate long-term health effects of military service. The study launched in 2001 and will continue through 2022, collecting survey data every three years. Researchers reviewed smoking initiation among those who had never smoked and relapse among those who were former smokers. Among these groups, the study assessed military characteristics including pay grade, service branch and combat deployment; mental health history; history of life stress; and demographic data.
Results from the study indicate that among older and younger military personnel, deployment with military combat was associated with a higher risk of smoking initiation. Further, having a previous mental disorder, serving in the Army and lower educational achievement were independently associated with a higher risk of smoking initiation.
“Although deployment with combat experience was associated with tobacco initiation, notably absent was an association between noncombat deployment and risk of smoking initiation, which suggests that deployment alone may not serve as a sufficient cause for the initiation of this behavior, ” the authors conclude.
“Smoking as a coping mechanism and stress reduction aid may explain the higher risk we noted in participants with combat experiences, previous mental health disorders and high life stressors,” they further explain.
[“Longitudinal investigation of smoking initiation and relapse among younger and older US military personnel.” Contact: Edward J. Boyko, MD, MPH, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle.]
For smokers, e-cigarette use is linked to lower likelihood of decreasing cigarette consumptionSmokers who have used e-cigarettes at least once were found to be less likely to quit or decrease cigarette consumption compared to smokers who have never used e-cigarettes, according to new research from the American Journal of Public Health.
Researchers drew survey responses from 1000 smokers using data from the California Smokers Cohort survey. All respondents were between the ages of 18 and 59 who had smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. Telephone surveys for study participants were completed at both a baseline level and a follow-up level about one year later.
Respondents were asked about their awareness and use of e-cigarettes, along with questions regarding tobacco use behavior, intention to quit and quit attempts. The study determined responses to the e-cigarette survey questions in relation to three outcomes: cigarette quit attempts, reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked and current abstinence from smoking.
According to the results, smokers with any history of e-cigarette use were less likely after one year to reduce cigarette smoking or completely quit for one month or more, than smokers who have never used e-cigarettes. These findings held true even when other factors including smoking status, intention to quit and smoking dependence were controlled for. Though not statistically significant, the data also showed that smokers who had used e-cigarettes at least once were more likely to attempt quitting during the study’s follow-up period.
“The study findings contradicted our primary hypothesis that smokers who had ever used e-cigarettes would be more likely to abstain from smoking cigarettes at 1-year follow-up than those who stated they would never use these products,” the study’s authors write.
“These findings are at odds with data from trials and experimental studies demonstrating that e-cigarettes have some positive influence on quitting behavior — comparable to that of the nicotine patch — although these studies showed very low rates of success,” the authors explain.
[“E-cigarette use in the past and quitting behavior in the future: A population-based study.” Contact: Wael K. Al-Delaimy, MD, PhD, Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California.]
Find a full list of research papers to be published online on April 16, 2015, at 3 p.m. EDT below:• Marketing Practices of Vapor Store Owners • Work Disability Before and After the Diagnosis of Diabetes: A Nationwide Population-Based Register Study in Sweden • State-Level Marriage Equality and the Health of Same-Sex Couples • Health Insurance Disparities among Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Same-Sex Relationships: An Intersectional Approach • Finding the Perfect Doctor: Identifying Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender-Competent Physicians • Venue-mediated weak ties in multiplex HIV transmission risk networks among drug-using male sex workers and associates • High mortality among HIV-uninfected people who inject drugs in Bangkok, Thailand, 2005-2012 • Sexual risk behaviour, sexual violence and HIV in persons with severe mental illness in Uganda: Hospital-based cross-sectional study and national comparison data • Long-term Effectiveness of Accelerated Hepatitis B Vaccination Schedule in Drug Users • Research Done in "A Good Way": The Importance of Indigenous Elder Involvement in HIV Community-Based Research • Knowledge and Screening of Head and Neck Cancer Among American Indians in South Dakota • Enhancing Stewardship of Community-Engaged Research through Governance • Improving identification of fall-related injuries in ambulatory care using statistical text mining • Beyond the cross-sectional: neighborhood poverty histories and preterm birth • Neighborhood Disadvantage is Associated with Hypertension Prevalence and Control in Older Adults:• Results from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Study of Aging • Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is Associated with a Decrease in Psychological Distress • Tobacco-, alcohol-, and drug-attributable deaths and their contribution to mortality disparities in a cohort of homeless adults in Boston • Adjunctive Financial Incentives for Abstinence among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Individuals Participating in Smoking Cessation Treatment • Patient characteristics associated with smoking cessation interventions and quit attempt rates across ten community health centers using electronic health records • Content-driven analysis of an online community for smoking cessation: integration of qualitative techniques, automated text analysis, and affiliation networks • Smokers who have used e-cigarettes in the past are less likely to quit successfully in the future: a population-based study• Loose cigarette purchasing and non-daily smoking among young adult bar patrons in New York City • A Longitudinal Investigation of Smoking Initiation and Relapse among Younger and Older US Military Personnel• Risk of cigarette smoking initiation during adolescence among US-born and US immigrant Hispanics/Latinos: Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study / Study of Latinos • Biomarkers of Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Racial/Ethnic Groups at High Risk for Lung Cancer • The enduring effects of smoking in Latin America: A losing battle?• Effects of Particulate Matter and Dietary Antioxidant Intake on Blood Pressure • Socioeconomic position is associated with sensory impairment among U.S. working-age adults • Have racial and ethnic disparities in asthma prevalence in the US increased over time? Time trends from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Study (1999-2011) • Children's Insurance Coverage and Crowd-Out through the Recession: Lessons from Ohio • The association between state laws regulating handgun ownership and statewide suicide rates • Searching the Web for Flu Vaccines: HealthMap Vaccine Finder
The articles above will be published online April 16, 2015, at 4 p.m. (EDT) by the American Journal of Public Health under “First Look.” “First Look” articles have undergone peer review, copyediting and approval by authors but have not yet been printed to paper or posted online by issue. The American Journal of Public Health is published by the American Public Health Association, www.apha.org, and is available at www.ajph.org.
Complimentary online access to the Journal is available to credentialed members of the media. Address inquiries to Kimberly Short at APHA, 202-777-2511, or email her. A single print issue of the Journal is available for $35 from the Journal’s Subscriptions department. If you are not a member of the press, a member of APHA or a subscriber, online single issue access is $30 and online single article access is $22 at www.ajph.org or for direct customer service, call 202-777-2516, or email.To stay up-to-date on the latest in public health research, sign up for new content email alerts.View this news release online.###The American Journal of Public Health is the monthly journal of the American Public Health Association. APHA champions the health of all people and all communities by strengthening the profession of public health, sharing the latest research and information, promoting best practices and advocating for public health issues and policies grounded in research. More information is available at www.apha.org.
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