American journal of preventive medicine
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Comparative Study
Smoking initiation and cessation in African Americans attending an inner-city walk-in clinic.
Data collected from a population of African Americans were analyzed to examine patterns of smoking initiation, smoking cessation, and factors related to smoking cessation. ⋯ A sizable opportunity for primary prevention of regular smoking appears to exist among African Americans aged 20 to 30 years as evidenced by patterns of smoking initiation in the population studied. The importance of age at initiation of regular smoking to the duration of smoking is demonstrated in this population over a wide range of duration.
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Geographic and racial/ethnic variability in prostate cancer incidence rates and stage distribution may be partly attributed to differences in screening and early detection. ⋯ Findings from the present and similar studies suggest that outcomes research is needed to determine the impact of these demographic differences on prostate cancer mortality and quality of life. This is particularly important given the current controversy regarding the treatment of clinically localized prostate cancers, increasingly found through early detection, which often involve difficult choices between aggressive therapies including prostatectomy or watchful waiting.
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Access to firearms and other weapons has been cited as an important factor contributing to the rise in violence-related injury among adolescents in the United States. ⋯ Among adolescents, weapon-carrying is associated with increased involvement in physical fighting and a greater likelihood of injury among those who do fight. Efforts to reduce fight-related injuries among youth should stress avoidance of weapon-carrying.
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Intervention studies to reduce cigarette sales to minors have been conducted primarily in suburban settings. Little is known about sociocultural factors influencing cigarette sales to minors in urban settings. This study sought to determine sociodemographic and cultural factors that may play a role in cigarette sales and in efforts to reduce sales to minors in urban areas. ⋯ Youth-oriented cigarette advertising is a prevalent environmental risk for urban youth. Differences between Asian and African-American merchants suggest socioethnic factors may be an influential component of illegal sales and educational campaigns to reduce smoking among minors.
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A study was undertaken to analyze the independent relationship between race (black/white) and cigarette smoking among 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States, 1983-1993. ⋯ From 1983 to 1993, blacks aged 18 to 24 years became decreasingly at risk to be smokers, compared to whites, even after adjustment for confounding factors. Young blacks have been more resistant than young whites to begin smoking in recent years. Understanding reasons behind this widening black/white difference could lead to better prevention strategies.