Review Article
Smoking Behavior in Arab Americans: A Systematic Review
Ghadban R1, Haddad L2*, An K1, Thacker II LR1 and Salyer J1
1School of Nursing, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA
2College of Nursing, University of Florida, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- Linda Haddad, RN, PhD, FAAN
College of Nursing, University of Florida, 1225 Center Drive
Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
Tel: 01-352-273-6520
E-mail: lhaddad@ufl.edu
Received date: August 03, 2016; Accepted date: August 19, 2016; Published date: August 25, 2016
Citation: Ghadban R, Haddad L, An K, Thacker II LR, Salyer J (2016) Smoking Behavior in Arab Americans: A Systematic Review. J Community Med Health Educ 6:462. doi:10.4172/2161-0711.1000462
Copyright: © 2016 Ghadban R, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background: In the United States (US), Arab Americans who maintain traditional cultural norms after their immigration are more likely to continue smoking as a form of social interaction. Arab Americans and their families are at a high risk for poor health outcomes related to smoking. Objective: This systematic review aimed to explore the smoking behavior, prevalence and use among Arab Americans and examine studies addressing the effect of acculturation on this behavior.
Results: The majority of the studies included focused on smoking prevalence and cessation. Some discussed the impact of acculturation and health beliefs on the smoking behavior of Arab American adolescents. Only two smoking cessation programs have been developed for Arab Americans, despite the high prevalence of both cigarette and water-pipe smoking in this community.
Conclusion: The scarcity of research on smoking among Arab Americans has impeded the development of interventions that improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities.
