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Nicotine & Tobacco Research Advance Access published online on February 20, 2009
Nicotine & Tobacco Research, doi:10.1093/ntr/ntn024
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.Permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Who conceals their smoking status from their health care provider?

Jennifer Stuber and Sandro Galea

Jennifer Stuber, Ph.D., School of Social Work, University of  Washington, Seattle, WA
Sandro Galea, M.D., Dr.P.H., School of Public Health, Institute  for Social Research, Center for Global Health, University of  Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Corresponding Author: Jennifer Stuber, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Box 354900, 4101 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98105-6299, USA. Telephone: 206-616-3874. Fax: 206-543-1228. Email: jstuber{at}u.washington.edu


  Abstract

Introduction: The decline in the social acceptability of tobacco use has the potential consequence that smokers may conceal their smoking from health care providers.

Methods: To assess the frequency and correlates of concealing one's smoking status from a health care provider, we analyzed data from the New York Social Environment Study, a cross-sectional random-digit–dialed telephone survey of 4,000 adult New York City residents surveyed between June and December 2005 (cooperation rate = 54%). A total of 835 current smokers were asked if they had ever kept their smoking status a secret from a doctor or another health care provider. Multiple items assessed the social unacceptability of smoking. Other potential correlates of smoking status nondisclosure were demographics, health status, frequency of tobacco use, and dependence.

Results: Some 8% of respondents (N = 63) reported ever keeping their smoking status a secret from a health provider. Nondisclosure of smoking status was more common among respondents who perceived high compared with low levels of smoker-related stigma (perceptions that they were devalued because they smoke; odds ratio [OR] = 2.83, 95% CI = 1.14–7.01) and among respondents who reported that smoking was not allowed in their home (OR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.01–4.11) in a multiple logistic regression analysis that adjusted for demographics, health status, frequency of tobacco use, and dependence. No other factors were associated with nondisclosure in this model.

Discussion: A small percentage of smokers may conceal their smoking status from their health care providers, and those who do are more likely to perceive their tobacco use to be socially unacceptable.

Received: September 6, 2007; Accepted: August 20, 2008
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