Smoking Behavior in Arab Americans: A Systematic Review

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.

Insights into Cigarette and Waterpipe Use among Houston-Based Arab Immigrants and Refugees

“…High tobacco use remains a public health concern among ArabAmericans, which are considered a health disparities group with respect to tobacco use prevalence and associated health outcomes (Abuelezam et al, 2018;Ghadban et al, 2016). The present cross-sectional survey study was conducted to assess the rate of tobacco use in a sample of 250 Arab Americans residing in a large metropolitan Houston area in the United States.…”

“…Only a few studies have examined tobacco use among Arab immigrants, and none of these studies included refugees from Arab countries (Alzyoud et al, 2014;Ghadban et al, 2016;Ghadban et al, 2019;Haddad et al, 2012;Rice & Kulwicki, 1992). Despite the documented high prevalence of tobacco use among Arab American communities, there is a scarcity of effective tobacco cessation programs that target this minority group (Al-Faouri et al, 2005;Ghadban et al, 2016;Haddad & Corcoran, 2013;Haddad et al, 2017).…”

“…Only a few studies have examined tobacco use among Arab immigrants, and none of these studies included refugees from Arab countries (Alzyoud et al, 2014;Ghadban et al, 2016;Ghadban et al, 2019;Haddad et al, 2012;Rice & Kulwicki, 1992). Despite the documented high prevalence of tobacco use among Arab American communities, there is a scarcity of effective tobacco cessation programs that target this minority group (Al-Faouri et al, 2005;Ghadban et al, 2016;Haddad & Corcoran, 2013;Haddad et al, 2017). Therefore, there is a critical need to examine tobacco use patterns and factors related to tobacco use and cessation barriers in this population to inform the development and evaluation of smoking cessation interventions culturally adapted for this understudied population.…”