BackgroundTobacco use continues to be a global public health problem. Helping patients to quit is part of the preventive role of all health professionals. There is now increasing interest in the role that the dental team can play in helping their patients to quit smoking. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of undertaking a randomised controlled smoking cessation intervention, utilising dental hygienists to deliver tobacco cessation advice to a cohort of periodontal patients.MethodsOne hundred and eighteen patients who attended consultant clinics in an outpatient dental hospital department (Periodontology) were recruited into a trial. Data were available for 116 participants, 59 intervention and 57 control, and were analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. The intervention group received smoking cessation advice based on the 5As (ask, advise, assess, assist, arrange follow-up) and were offered nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), whereas the control group received 'usual care'. Outcome measures included self-reported smoking cessation, verified by salivary cotinine measurement and CO measurements. Self-reported measures in those trial participants who did not quit included number and length of quit attempts and reduction in smoking.ResultsAt 3 months, 9/59 (15%) of the intervention group had quit compared to 5/57 (9%) of the controls. At 6 months, 6/59 (10%) of the intervention group quit compared to 3/57 (5%) of the controls. At one year, there were 4/59 (7%) intervention quitters, compared to 2/59 (4%) control quitters. In participants who described themselves as smokers, at 3 and 6 months, a statistically higher percentage of intervention participants reported that they had had a quit attempt of at least one week in the preceding 3 months (37% and 47%, for the intervention group respectively, compared with 18% and 16% for the control group).ConclusionThis study has shown the potential that trained dental hygienists could have in delivering smoking cessation advice. While success may be modest, public health gain would indicate that the dental team should participate in this activity. However, to add to the knowledge-base, a multi-centred randomised controlled trial, utilising biochemical verification would be required to be undertaken.

Collecting epidemiologic data by ethnicity and race is a highly useful undertaking; but "bench mark" comparisons relative to majority Americans should not take priority over defining the determinants of health status within a minority group. Thus, it is necessary to identify factors contributing to the measured health status and to modify the environment, lifestyles, and behaviors to diminish the likelihood of undesirable health outcomes. This article presents an overview of the health status of African Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics. The goals are to provide a framework for the rational interpretation of both health status data and its determinants both within and between minority groups. This approach recognizes the heterogeneity of health status that exists within a minority group and encourages investigators to place more emphasis on the within-group health status differentials as they search for modifiable factors that underlie the risk for undesirable health outcomes.

Background Discrimination may be adversely associated with abdominal obesity, but few studies have examined associations with abdominal fat. Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine whether discrimination was independently associated with visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) fat and whether these associations differed by sex and age. Methods Participants self-reported experiences of everyday and lifetime discrimination. The main reason for and the coping response to these experiences were also reported. VAT and SAT were quantified by computed tomography. Results In fully adjusted models, higher reports of everyday discrimination were associated with greater SAT, but not VAT, volumes in men only: SAT increased by 3.6 (standard error = 1.8)cm3 for each unit increase in the everyday discrimination score. In women, higher reports of lifetime non-racial discrimination were associated with greater VAT (71.6±32.0, P<0.05) and SAT (212.6±83.6, P<0.05), but these relationships were attenuated after controlling for body mass index. Conclusions These cross-sectional findings do not fully support the independent hypothesis of discrimination and abdominal fat. Additional investigations involving longitudinal designs are warranted.

We analyzed data from a national telephone survey to determine whether awareness of the herpes epidemic led to changes in sexual behavior. Of those surveyed, 67 per cent heard about herpes only within the last two years. More importantly, 45 per cent of individuals perceiving themselves to be at risk stated they had changed their behavior as a result of this perception. Among those never married, 60 per cent stated they were willing to modify their lives to avoid genital herpes. (Am J Public Health 1985; 75:69-71.)

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