Smoking Among African-Americans Under-reported

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Under-reporting of the rate of smoking of California’s African Americans

The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC) and California’s Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass wish to draw attention to the recent report of the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) that reveals conspicuous under-reporting of the rate of smoking of California’s African Americans.

The current state statistics paint an inaccurate picture of California’s success in tobacco control. As a result, there has been an under funding of tobacco control resources directed to one of California’s hardest hit populations, further exacerbating the health disparities faced by African Americans.

This alarming report released this spring, from a research team headed by Dr. Hope Landrine, formerly of San Diego State University, and Denise Adams-Simms, formerly of the California Black Health Network, found that the smoking rate among African Americans in California is significantly higher than what had been reported by the California Department of Public Health.

Specifically, this team found that African, Americans’ smoking prevalence is actually 32.6%, compared to the 19.5% reported in the California Tobacco Survey (CTS). The primary reason for this discrepancy is the random digit-dial telephone survey (RDDTS) methodology that CTS relies upon which excludes a high proportion of African American homes.

Landrine and Adams-Simms collected study data utilizing door to door surveys from randomly assigned households in both African American segregated and integrated census tracts. “Those of us doing the work in our communities have long known that African American smoking rates were much higher than reported,” stated Adams-Simms, who worked several years to find funding for this study.

Contact: www..asm.ca.gov/bass