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

描述（由申请人提供）：尽管与美国人口相比，南亚人在国际上的健康状况存在明显差异，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，对南亚人烟草使用行为的研究很少。此外，烟草消费的特点是很大比例的土著烟草产品，如bidis，一种小的棕色手卷香烟，以及gutkha和paan masala，各种咀嚼烟草。这些受欢迎的南亚烟草产品在美国的少数民族聚居区也很容易买到。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。现有的关于美国南亚人吸烟的研究是有限的，因为它们往往受到地理限制，或者只关注吸烟。然而，在英国进行的研究表明，南亚移民的烟草使用率可能很高，并可能继续使用他们的本土烟草产品。本探索性研究提案描述了一项探索美国南亚人烟草使用监测测量问题的计划。因此，我们将：1)开展焦点小组以了解美国南亚人的烟草使用情况；2)开发并完善一项调查工具，该工具将进行认知测试，以评估南亚人使用烟草产品的流行程度；3)实施基于人群的分割样本随机调查，以比较标准烟草使用措施和为衡量南亚特定烟草产品而开发的新问题。4)探索受访者驱动抽样（RDS）方法在南亚地区的可行性。因此，这项拟议研究的重要意义在于它有可能改进烟草监测方法，并更好地了解南亚移民的土著烟草使用情况，这对于告知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.