Relationship between tobacco retailer density and sexual minority couples

描述（由申请人提供）：性少数群体的烟草使用率明显高于异性恋群体。造成这种持续差异的原因尚不清楚，但烟草使用造成的高死亡率和致残率造成了癌症方面的严重健康不平等。同性伴侣在美国的运动导致同性伴侣集中在更多的城市社区，那里可能有更多的烟草零售商。住在烟草零售商附近与戒烟成功率降低有关。同性伴侣和烟草零售商是否存在重叠模式还没有被研究过。本研究使用来自美国97个县18,034个人口普查区的92,384个烟草零售商的独特高质量清单和美国人口普查区的数据来检验人口普查区同性伴侣密度与烟草零售商密度之间的关系。该分析使用地理信息系统（GIS）软件，该软件允许缓冲人口普查区，以创建烟草零售商密度的度量。使用空间回归模型对这种关系进行了测试，以解释由于地理邻近而导致的非独立性。然后检查这种关系，看看它是否是其他混淆人口普查区特征的结果。本文提出了一种多重中介方法来检验烟草零售商密度与同性伴侣密度之间的关系是否受到城市化、收入和种族/民族构成等地域特征的干扰。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Tobacco use is substantially higher among sexual minorities than among heterosexuals. The reasons for this persistent disparity remain unclear, but the high toll of death and disability from tobacco use creates substantial health inequalities in cancer. Same-sex couples' movement within the U.S. results in same-sex couples concentrating in more urban neighborhoods where there may be more tobacco retailers. Living near a tobacco retailer has been associated with decreased success in quitting tobacco. The presence or absence of overlapping patterns of same-sex couples and tobacco retailers have not been explored. This study uses a unique and high quality list of 92,384 tobacco retailers from 97 U.S. counties with 18,034 census tracts and data from the U.S. Census to examine the relationship between same-sex couple density and tobacco retailer density in census tracts. The analysis uses geographical information systems (GIS) software that allows for buffering census tract areas to create a measure of tract tobacco retailer density. This relationship is tested usin spatial regression models to account for non-independence due to geographic proximity. The relationship is then examined to see if it is the result of other, confounding census tract characteristics. A multiple mediation approach is proposed to examine if the relationship between tobacco retailer density and same-sex couple density is confounded by tract characteristics such as urbanicity, income, and racial/ethnic composition.