Smoking Trends among U.S. Latinos, 1998–2013: The Impact of Immigrant Arrival Cohort

Abstract

Few studies examine nativity disparities in smoking in the U.S., thus a major gap remains in understanding whether immigrant Latinos’ smoking prevalence is stable, converging, or diverging, compared with U.S.-born Latinos. This study aimed to disentangle the roles of period changes, duration of U.S. residence, and immigrant arrival cohort in explaining the gap in smoking prevalence between foreign-born and U.S.-born Latinos. Using repeated cross-sectional data spanning 1998–2013 (U.S. National Health Interview Survey), regressions predicted current smoking among foreign-born and U.S.-born Latino men and women (n = 12,492). We contrasted findings from conventional regression analyses that simply include period and duration of residence effects, to two methods of assessing arrival cohort effects: the first accounted for baseline differences in smoking among arrival cohorts, while the second examined smoking probabilities by tracking foreign-born arrival cohorts as they increase their duration of U.S. residence. Findings showed that Latino immigrants maintained lower prevalence of current smoking compared with U.S.-born Latinos over the period 1998–2013, and that longer duration of U.S. residence is associated with lower odds of smoking among men. Two findings are particularly novel: (1) accounting for immigrant arrival cohort dampens the overall protective effect of duration of residence among men; and (2) the earliest arrival cohort of Latino immigrant men experienced the steepest decline in smoking over duration of U.S. residence. Results have methodological and theoretical implications for smoking studies and the Latino mortality paradox.

A Comprehensive Analysis of Morbidity Life Expectancies Among Older Hispanic Subgroups in the United States: Variation by Nativity and Country of Origin

“…This contradiction between the relative socioeconomic disadvantage and health of Hispanics vis-a-vis whites has been labeled the Hispanic paradox ( Markides & Eschbach, 2011 ). Potential explanations for the observed health advantage among older Hispanics have been attributed to (a) selective migration: in-migration of healthy individuals and return migration of older Hispanics in poor health to their country of origin, which results in a healthier Hispanic population residing in the United States ( Bostean, 2013 ; Markides & Eschbach, 2005 ); and (b) social and cultural factors among Hispanic immigrants associated with positive health behaviors (e.g., lower levels of smoking, and healthier diet) that promote health and longevity ( Bostean, Ro, & Fleischer, 2017 ; Fenelon, 2013 ; Lariscy, Hummer, & Hayward, 2015 ; Riosmena, Kuhn, & Jochem, 2017 ). Though, research shows foreign-born Hispanics are more likely to engage in negative health behaviors such as smoking with increased duration in the United States which leads to the weakening of any immigrant health advantage ( Fenelon, 2013 ; Lariscy et al, 2015 ).…”

How Does Acculturation Influence Smoking Behavior Among Latinos? The Role of Education and National Background

“…The impact of immigrant arrival on smoking status has been evaluated using NHIS data and confirmed that Latino immigrants maintained lower rates of current smoking compared with US-born Latinos. 28 Furthermore, in that study, longer duration in the United States is associated with lower odds of smoking among men. Duration of residence in the United States has often been used as a proxy for acculturation and thus our findings are consistent.…”

“…11,22 However, none, to our knowledge, have investigated educational attainment or household income in this relationship by national background. Two recent articles used National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data to evaluate smoking behavior 28 or smoking cessation 29 , but neither reported data by national background. In order to investigate the relationship between gender, acculturation level, educational attainment, and household Latinos have not been disaggregated by national background nor accounted for any measure of socioeconomic status such as years of formal education or household income.…”

Refugee Health: An Ongoing Commitment and Challenge

“…The consideration of a wide range of topics is needed to better inform decision makers and the medical community [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. This includes, but is not limited to: Health screening examinations; community-based/multi-lingual health education and resources for refugees; improved awareness of refugee health disparities; disease tracking and reporting systems; multidisciplinary response to disease outbreaks; refugee utilization or lack thereof of healthcare resources/insurance; barriers to healthcare; health selection/trajectory of refugees; hematologic genetic disorders; chronic and mental health issues; abuse; discrimination; exploitation; infectious diseases; immunization strategies; environmental exposures related to disease; hygiene and sanitation; healthy lifestyle choices; illegal activities/injuries (assault, rape, battery); and assimilation analysis.…”