IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i22p15292-d977757.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

If Smoking Were Eliminated, Which US Counties Would Still Have High Rates of Smoking-Related Cancers?

Author

Listed:
  • Douglas J. Myers

    (School of Public and Population Health, College of Health Sciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA)

  • David Kriebel

    (Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA)

Abstract

Objective: to characterize the county variability of the impact of smoking elimination on rates of smoking-related cancers and explore whether common environmental indices predicted which metropolitan counties would experience high rates of smoking-related cancers even after smoking was eliminated. Methods: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data were obtained. County level cancer rates for 257 metropolitan SEER counties, including the observed rates and those predicted after eliminating smoking, were derived via multilevel regression modeling and age standardized to the 2016 SEER population. Associations between the EPA’s Environmental Quality Index (EQI) scores and “Low Benefit” counties (counties that remain above the top 20th percentile of post-smoking elimination incidence rates) were explored via logistic regression. Results: Reductions in smoking-related cancer incidence ranged from 58.4 to 3.2%. The overall EQI (OR = 1.96, 95% CI [1.34, 2.86]) and the air quality index (OR = 5.99, 95% CI [3.20, 11.22]) scores predicted higher odds of being a “Low Benefit” county. Conclusions: Substantial inequities in the post-smoking elimination cancer rates were observed; air pollution appears to be a primary explanation for this. Cancer prevention in metropolitan counties with high levels of air pollution should prioritize pollution control at least as much as tobacco control.

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas J. Myers & David Kriebel, 2022. "If Smoking Were Eliminated, Which US Counties Would Still Have High Rates of Smoking-Related Cancers?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-10, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:15292-:d:977757
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/15292/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/15292/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:15292-:d:977757. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.