Characteristics of health, socio-demographics, smoking behavior and exposure among rural San Diego, CA farmworkers: An examination of perceived risk and beliefs of smoking norms

Background: North county San Diego (NCSD) farmworkers are geographically "trapped" within the borders of the San Diego county, making them non-migratory and a permanent resident of San Diego, yet this population remains largely under studied and under served. Studies related to farmworker health are more than a decade old and there are currently no studies exploring smoking and second hand smoke (SHS) exposure as it relates to beliefs and perception norms. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to 1) describe characteristics of general health and socio- demographics, current smoking status and SHS exposure, and if SHS exposure is associated with smoking behavior; 2) Examine whether higher perceived risk of smoking for disease, addiction, difficulty quitting, and hazardous to health predicts is associated with current smoking; and 3) Explore perceived norms of smoking in the adult, adolescent, and younger adult communities. We hypothesize that these intrapersonal and interpersonal perceptions related to smoking are associated with current smoking status among rural farmworkers. Methods: Self identified NCSD crop farmworkers ≥18 years were recruited during community events to participate in this study (n= 80). A cross-sectional survey design, using paper surveys, was orally administered to the participants. Participants were categorized as "current smoker" (yes-100 cigarette lifetime use and past 30 days) and "former/never smoker". A bivariate logistic regression was performed to measure association between smoker status and variables at the personal and interpersonal level of the social ecological model. Results: 36.8% of NCSD farmworkers are current smokers, 97.5% Hispanic or Latino, 46.3% male, 42.7% reported no formal or primary education, 71.3% reported having no health insurance, and 42% self reported their general health as "good". NCSD farmworkers increase current smoker status if they were exposed to anyone smoking inside or outside the home (other than themselves), had low risk perception from contracting a disease from smoking and becoming addicted to smoking (p 0.05). Conclusion: Lack of healthcare accessibility, increased SHS exposure, and low risk perception of smoking for disease and addiction put NCSD farmworkers at risk for negative health outcomes and increased smoking status. Thus, further research should explore barriers to health education and promotion as well as perceptions norms at the interpersonal level to decrease smoking status and SHS exposure within this population.