Tobacco use is the most important cause of preventable death in this country for all racial/ethnic groups. Over $70 billion in direct medical costs is a t tributable to tobacco-related disease. Chinese Americans may be at particularly high risk for excess tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. It is estimated that 73% of men in China smoke. Yet, smoking behaviors, attitudes and beliefs among Chinese Americans remain largely undocumented. The New York City Department of Health Tobacco Control Program (NYCTCP) together with their community partners is developing and implementing an innovative community-based intervention, tailored to Chinese Americans. The principle aim of thisresearch is to test the hypothesis that culturally and linguistically appropriate media campaign, plus increased access to on-site community-based cessation services, will be more effective, and more cost-effective, in positively influencing tobacco-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors among a minority population, than will be culturally appropriate media approaches alone. We will assess age-specific prevalence rates, and tobacco-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, among two Chinese American communities in New York City. The research design is a quasi-experimental pre- post-test design with nonequivalent intact comparison groups from two geographically d i s t inct Chinese communities. The sample design will consist of a cross-sectional component to estimate smoking prevalence and a longitudinal study of baseline respondents. Individual-level data will be obtained from face-to-face interviews with representative individuals using standardized survey instruments. In addition, process evaluation methods will be used to assess the intervention implementation. Study results will provide important information on how to allocate limited resources for community tobacco control interventions, designed to influence an Asian American population, in the most cost-effective manner.
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