Measurement of Tobacco Use among South Asians in the U.S.

描述(申请人提供)：尽管与美国人口相比，南亚人在国际上存在显著的健康差距，但人们对居住在美国的南亚人的健康状况知之甚少。不幸的是，关于南亚人吸烟行为的研究很少。此外，烟草消费的特点是有很大比例的本土烟草产品，如小棕色手卷卷烟BIDI和咀嚼烟草的GUTKHA和PAAN Masala。这些受欢迎的南亚烟草产品在美国的种族飞地上也很容易买到。此外，南亚人是美国第二大亚洲群体，也是增长最快的移民群体之一。美国对南亚人吸烟的现有研究是有限的，因为它们往往受到地理上的限制，或者只关注吸烟。然而，在英国进行的研究表明，移民南亚人可能有很高的烟草使用率，并可能继续使用他们的本土烟草产品。这一探索性研究计划描述了探索美国南亚人烟草使用监测中的测量问题的计划。因此，我们将：1)领导焦点小组了解美国南亚人的烟草使用情况，2)开发和完善调查工具，该工具将接受认知测试，以评估南亚人使用产品的流行度，3)实施基于总体的分裂样本随机调查，以比较标准烟草使用措施和为测量南亚特定烟草产品而开发的新问题，以及4)探索受访者驱动抽样(RDS)方法接触南亚人的可行性。因此，这项拟议研究的意义在于，它有可能改进烟草监测方法，更好地了解南亚移民对土著烟草的使用情况，这对指导和指导烟草控制工作至关重要。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite marked health disparities among South Asians internationally compared to the U.S. population, little is known about the health status of South Asians residing in the U.S. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research on tobacco use behaviors in South Asians. Moreover, tobacco consumption is characterized by a large proportion of indigenous tobacco products, such as bidis, which are small brown hand-rolled cigarettes, and gutkha and paan masala, types of chew tobacco. These popular South Asian tobacco products are also readily available in ethnic enclaves in the U.S. In addition, South Asians are the second largest Asian group in the U.S. and among the fastest growing immigrant groups. Existing studies of tobacco use in South Asians in the U.S. are limited as they tend to be geographically restricted or focused only on cigarette smoking. However, studies conducted in the U.K. suggest that immigrant South Asians may have high rates of tobacco use and may continue use of their native tobacco products. This exploratory research proposal describes a plan to explore measurement issues in tobacco use surveillance of South Asians in the U.S. Accordingly, we will: 1) conduct focus groups to understand tobacco use among South Asians in the U.S., 2) develop and refine a survey instrument, which will undergo cognitive testing, to assess the prevalence of products used by South Asians, 3) implement a population-based split sample randomized survey to compare standard tobacco use measures and new questions developed to measure South Asian-specific tobacco products, and 4) explore the feasibility of a respondent driven sampling (RDS) approach to reach South Asians. Thus, the significance of this proposed research is its potential to improve tobacco surveillance methodologies and generate a better understanding of indigenous tobacco use among South Asian immigrants which is vital to informing and directing tobacco control efforts.