Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Mar 1990
Comparative StudyPatterns of cigarette and smokeless tobacco use among children and adolescents.
Although cigarette and smokeless tobacco use are recognized as major problems among school-age youth, few nationwide or statewide data exist on the prevalence and patterns of use. To determine the patterns of tobacco use among children and adolescents in Missouri, self-report information was obtained from a representative sample of 5,431 students in grades 5, 8, and 12. Both cigarette smoking and smokeless tobacco use were more common among males than females for each grade level except the 12th, where 30% of females and 28% of males had smoked during the previous week. ⋯ Male smokeless tobacco users appeared to be more addicted than male cigarette smokers. Smokeless tobacco brand preference indicated that users may switch to progressively stronger types of smokeless tobacco as they get older and a nicotine tolerance is developed. The current study emphasizes the urgent need for carefully targeted tobacco prevention and cessation efforts among school-age youth.
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Preventive medicine · Mar 1990
ReviewA review of the use of saliva cotinine as a marker of tobacco smoke exposure.
Cotinine, the major metabolite of nicotine, is a useful marker of exposure to tobacco smoke. It can be measured in plasma, urine, or saliva. However, distinguishing between active and passive smoking on the basis of a cotinine measurement may be difficult. ⋯ Levels between 10 and 100 ng/ml may result from infrequent active smoking or regular active smoking with low nicotine intake. Levels greater than 100 ng/ml are probably the result of regular active smoking. Four categorizations of tobacco smoke exposure are suggested on the basis of saliva cotinine concentrations.