PSYCHOSOCIAL PROFILE OF PREGNANT ADOLESCENTS IN A LARGE AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL AREA

A psychosocial profile was developed of 122 pregnant adolescents attending a public hospital antenatal clinic in a large regional Australian area. Participants completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Support Behaviours Inventory and were interviewed to obtain psychosocial and demographic information. Results revealed that those who were most likely to have either or a combination of poor self-esteem, lack of social support, be unemployed or smoke, were more likely to be living alone or with friends, not have a partner or have a partner for a shorter period, have a partner who was older, have previous children, have not planned their pregnancy and have less education. The degree of social support was significantly associated with self-esteem. Over half of the sample smoked, and over half were unemployed. These results underscore the importance of addressing psychosocial factors in the implementation of care for the pregnant adolescent.     

Relationship between Cigarette Dose and Perceived Risk of Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND: Most people are aware that smoking cigarettes increases the risk of ill health, in particular of lung cancer. The precise way in which they relate amount of exposure to smoke and level of health risk has not, however, been determined. METHODS: A convenience sample of 155 French adolescents and adults ages 15 to 75 rated the risk of "smoker's cancer"--the popular term for lung cancer--in 24 scenarios depicting eight levels of daily cigarette consumption of three concentrations of nicotine. The data were analyzed according to functional measurement methodology to ascertain the forms of the relationship between exposure and perceived risk. RESULTS: All subjects perceived that the risk of smoker's cancer increased as smoking increased. Yet at high levels of consumption, additional cigarettes were generally judged to result in decreasing increments of risk, regardless of the nicotine content of the cigarettes and the sex and smoking status of the participants. Adolescents, however, were more likely than adults to perceive a linear, rather than a negatively accelerated, relationship. CONCLUSIONS: The actual form of the relationship between the dose of cigarette smoke and risk of lung cancer is either linear or positively accelerated. Public health educators and physicians should be aware that, at least in France, many people, particularly adults, incorrectly perceive this relationship as negatively accelerated.     

Review Article: Normal science? Texts for teaching the sociology of health and illness

Ellen Annandale, The Sociology of Health and Medicine
Rob Baggott, Health and Health Care in Britain
David Field and Steve Taylor (eds), Sociological Perspectives on Health,Illness and Health Care
John Germov (ed), Second Opinion: an Introduction to Health Sociology
Ron Iphofen and Fiona Poland, Sociology in Practice for Health CareProfessionals
Lesley Mackay, Keith Soothill and Kath Melia (eds), Classic Texts inHealth Care
Alan Petersen and Charles Waddell (eds), Health Matters: a Sociology ofIllness, Prevention and Care     

郑州市4123名中学生吸烟状况调查

目的：了解郑州市中学生吸烟状况。方法：采用问卷法对６所中学４１２３名学生进行吸烟状况调查。结果：中学生总吸烟率为４５１６％（１８６２／４１２３）。其中,高中组吸烟率（５０４９％）高于初中组（３９４９％）,男生吸烟率（７０１９％）明显高于女生（３１５％）,且中学生吸烟的严重性随年龄的增加而增加;父母的文化程度、周围人群的吸烟情况与学生吸烟率有密切关系。结论：中学生吸烟问题较重,为保护中学生的身心健康应大力开展卫生宣教。     

研究中学男生吸烟与其他危害健康问题的相互作用

目的：研究吸烟青少年与其他危害健康行为情绪的关系。方法：采用无记名问卷调查1358名中学男生吸烟状况以及其他危害行为,同时评定了焦虑、抑郁症状。结果：中学男生近一个月吸烟率、每日吸烟率分别为14．9％和5．8％,成瘾学生3．8％。Logistic回归分析表明,饮酒、打架斗殴、携带防身刀具、不健康的控制体重行为、学习成绩落后,以及抑郁症状与吸烟有影响。结论：吸烟行为与其他危害健康行为互为关联。     

烟草凝集物对家兔胚泡乳酸脱氢酶及过氧化脂质的影响

为探讨吸烟对胚泡发育的影响,观察了烟草凝集物对孕７天兔胚泡的过氧化脂质和乳酸脱氢酶的影响,结果表明,体外培养４ｈ时ＬＰＯ水平比２ｈ显示升高,４ｈＬＤＨ与２ｈＬＤＨ相比差异不显著。ＬＤＨ活力与ＣＳＣ剂量不相关,但ＬＰＯ有随ＣＳＣ剂量增加上升的趋势,其ｒ值接近Ｐ＝０．０５的显著性水平。提示ＣＳＣ有促进脂质过氧化反应的趋势。     

Manipulation of cigarette craving through rapid smoking: efficacy and effects on smoking behavior

Craving is thought to play an important role in maintaining regular smoking patterns in current smokers, and in leading to relapse in smokers attempting to quit. Within the scientific community however, the concept is surrounded by controversy. In an effort to 1) identify interventions that can reliably influence cigarette cravings, and 2) assess the relationship between cigarette craving and smoking behavior, effects of aversive rapid smoking (up to nine cigarettes with puffs taken every 6 s) on self-reported craving and subsequent smoking behavior were compared to effects of self-paced smoking or no smoking. Subjects (n = 14) engaged in a rapid, self-paced or no smoking procedure at the start of three separate sessions. Craving levels, measured repeatedly during the next 3 h of no smoking, were significantly lower after rapid smoking than after either self-paced or no smoking. Measures of subsequent smoking behavior (latency to first cigarette, number of cigarettes, number of puffs) did not differ systematically across conditions. Thus, craving was reliably suppressed by aversive rapid smoking, but craving scores did not predict actual smoking behavior. Received: 2 April 1998/Final version: 7 August 1998     

Smoking behaviour and compensation: a review of the literature

Rationale: Compensation or compensatory smoking, accurately defined, deals with the question of whether switching to cigarette brands with different smoke yields is associated with a change in smoke uptake proportional to the change in machine-derived yields. The issue of compensation is important because it bears on whether switching to ”lighter” brands means lower overall smoke intake or not. Objectives: The present review investigated whether and to what extend low yield cigarettes are smoked more intensively. In addition, published data on whether nicotine, ”tar”, or any other smoke constituent or property influence compensational smoking are summarized. Methods: The studies on compensation were classified as follows: (1) studies on smoking behaviour in relation to cigarette yields (with and without brand switching); (2) studies on compensation for nicotine (switching between cigarettes which differ ”only” in their nicotine yield, nicotine supplementation, manipulation of renal nicotine excretion, administration of nicotine agonists or antagonists); (3) studies on compensation for other factors (influence of tar, taste, irritation, draw resistance). In order to quantify the degree of compensation, an index is defined and applied to selected brand switching studies. This compensation index determines, in relative units, the degree to which a smoker responds to a change in smoke yields with a change in smoke uptake measured by suitable biomarkers. The role of vent blocking is also briefly discussed. Results: Most of the studies which compare the smoking behaviour when smoking cigarettes with different smoke yields supply evidence for ”partial” compensation, suggesting that cigarettes with lower yields are smoked more intensively than those with higher yields. These studies also show that a change in the daily number of cigarettes is not a common mechanism of compensation. Effective vent blocking during smoking is a rare event and can therefore also be regarded as an uncommon mechanism of compensation. Evaluation of a suitable subset of brand-switching studies revealed an average compensation of 50–60% of the nicotine yield. Compensation tended to be more complete when changing to cigarettes with higher yields than when changing to cigarettes with lower yields. In general, brand-switching studies do not supply information on the underlying causal factors responsible for compensatory smoking. Results of the nicotine supplementation studies are not conclusive: some report evidence of nicotine titration, others do not. A general problem with this type of investigation is that continuous nicotine application does not mimic the spike-wise application with cigarette smoking, and may lead to nicotine tolerance. There is limited evidence that cigarettes were smoked more intensively when the urinary clearance of nicotine was increased. A small number of studies provide some evidence that smoking intensity increased after smokers were administered a nicotine antagonist. Several reports indicate that tar, taste and sensory properties of the smoke as well as the draw resistance of the cigarette may play a role in compensatory smoking. Low-yield cigarettes usually have reduced pressure drops which smoke researchers have suggested leads to increased puff volume. This effect seems to be independent of the smoke yield of the cigarette. There is also some evidence that some smokers maintain a consistent pattern of smoking which works independent of any changes in nicotine or tar yields, taste or design features of the cigarette (”functional autonomy”). Conclusions: The available data suggest that smokers partially compensate for a different smoke yield. While the factors and their interaction responsible for compensational smoking are not fully understood, there are data suggesting that a subgroup of smokers may partially compensate for nicotine. Even in this subgroup of smokers, however, the relative importance of the pharmacological versus the sensory effects of nicotine in smoke remains to be determined. Received: 4 January 1999 / Final version: 22 March 1999     

Smoking and Exposure to Occupational Hazards in 8,304 Workers in Guangzhou, China

This cross-sectional study aimed to describe the pattern ofsmoking in relation to occupational hazard exposure in a workingpopulation in Guangzhou, China. In 1994, data on smoking andoccupational hazard exposure from occupational health recordsof 8,304 subjects aged 35 years or older from 47 randomly selectedfactories were studied. About 49% of the men and 55% of thewomen were exposed to dust, chemicals or other hazards. Theprevalence of smoking was 56.1% in men and in women. The prevalenceof smoking in men was higher in those who were younger, withprimary education or who were workers. In women, those who wereolder, with primary education or in management jobs had highersmoking prevalence. In men and women, subjects who were exposedto occupational hazards had higher smoking prevalence: the highest(71.6%) was found in male workers exposed to dust. Urgent tobaccocontrol measures are needed to prevent the epidemic of smoking-relatedand occupation-related diseases in the workplace in China.     

Programmes for tobacco and alcohol users in Australian work-places

This article presents findings from a survey of programmes available for tobacco and alcohol users working in 455 of Australia's top 600 companies. Companies were twice as likely to have programmes for smokers (43%) as for problem drinkers (24%) and these programmes were more apparent in large companies. The majority of programmes for smoking were delivered within a health promotion context which included other life-style issues, such as nutrition, exercise, weight management and stress management. Although Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) were the most commonly available type of work-place programme for excessive drinkers and other drug users, followed by Alcoholics Anonymous and local hospital clinics, only 6% had an EAP for alcohol. Only 21% of programmes for smokers and 12% for excessive alcohol users were evaluated. Around one-quarter of companies knew the costs of smoking programmes, and 9% reported costs of conducting programmes for excessive alcohol consumers.