(Press-News.org) ATLANTA - July 2, 2015-Cancer survivors who smoke report fewer negative opinions about smoking, have more barriers to quitting, and are around other smokers more often than survivors who had quit before or after their diagnosis, according to a new study appearing in Psycho-Oncology. The authors say these factors point to potential targets to help cancer survivors quit.
Quitting smoking is important for cancer prognosis, but some cancer survivors continue to smoke. Although initial quit rates are high among those diagnosed with cancers strongly linked with smoking (e.g., lung, head and neck), many relapse and begin smoking again. Also, survivors of other cancers may not be aware of the connection between their smoking and cancer prognosis and may not receive cessation advice or follow-up assistance during cancer treatment.
According to the 2011/2012 population-based National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), smoking prevalence among survivors between 18 and 44 years was 38.1% compared with 24% in the general population in that age group, likely reflecting the association between smoking and cancer.
For their new study, researchers led by Lee Westmaas examined psychological correlates of smoking status and patterns, likelihood of quitting, and intentions to quit among long-term survivors enrolled in the American Cancer Society's Study of Cancer Survivors-I (SCS-I), a longitudinal nationwide study of adult survivors of 10 commonly diagnosed cancers.
The most recent survey was completed between January 2010 and December 2011, approximately 9 years after diagnosis, with 2,938 survivors providing data on smoking.
The analysis found survivors who currently smoked (compared with those who quit before or after diagnosis) perceived health problems caused by smoking as less severe, perceived fewer benefits of quitting for cancer survivors, saw greater barriers to quitting, and reported more daily exposure to others' smoking.
The analysis also found that cancer survivors who intended to quit rated the risks of smoking as higher and as more severe than survivors who weren't intending to quit or who weren't sure if they wanted to quit. Survivors intending to quit were also less likely to see benefits from smoking, and survivors who didn't smoke every day were much less exposed to others' smoke, and had greater confidence in their ability to quit.
"The association between smoking and exposure to others' smoke was particularly eye-opening," said Dr. Westmaas. "Being around other smokers may be a major reason why cancer survivors are smoking and should be something that is addressed in recommending treatments for helping cancer patients quit."
Dr. Westmaas adds that health care providers may want to include family members who smoke in efforts to encourage cessation for smokers.
INFORMATION:
Article: Lee Westmaas, J., Berg, C. J., Alcaraz, K. I., and Stein, K. (2015) Health behavior theory constructs and smoking and cessation-related behavior among survivors of ten cancers nine years after diagnosis: A report from the American Cancer Society's Study of Cancer Survivors-I. Psycho-Oncology, doi: 10.1002/pon.3885.
A group of scientists led by Dr Kara Hoover of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and including Professor Matthew Cobb of The University of Manchester, has studied how our sense of smell has evolved, and has even reconstructed how a long-extinct human relative would have been able to smell.
The sense of smell plays a decisive role in human societies, as it is linked to our taste for food, as well as our identification of pleasant and unpleasant substances.
We have about 4 million smell cells in our noses, divided into about 400 different types. There is tremendous ...
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Engineers at Oregon State University have invented a way to fabricate silver, a highly conductive metal, for printed electronics that are produced at room temperature.
There may be broad applications in microelectronics, sensors, energy devices, low emissivity coatings and even transparent displays.
A patent has been applied for on the technology, which is now available for further commercial development. The findings were reported in Journal of Materials Chemistry C.
Silver has long been considered for the advantages it offers in electronic devices. ...
Research conducted in Okinawa, Japan, by graduate student Yu Miyazaki and associate professor James Davis Reimer from the University of the Ryukyus has found a very unusual new species of octocoral from a shallow coral reef in Okinawa, Japan. The new species can be considered a "living fossil", and is related in many ways to the unusual blue coral. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.
Unlike scleractinians, most octocorals lack a hard skeleton, and therefore many have the common name "soft coral". One exception is the endangered genus Heliopora, ...
COLUMBIA, Mo. - For years, news organizations that post content on the Internet have allowed readers to leave comments about stories. Often, these readers' comments become a forum for political debates and other communication that the news organizations do not consider important to their journalistic practices. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri School of Journalism have found that editors and owners of news organizations may want to pay more attention to what their readers are saying about their news stories in order to better serve their consumers. Timothy ...
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Poor sleep habits can have a negative effect on self-control, which presents risks to individuals' personal and professional lives, according to Clemson University researchers.
In a study titled "Interactions between Sleep Habits and Self-Control," Clemson psychologists concluded a sleep-deprived individual is at increased risk for succumbing to impulsive desires, inattentiveness and questionable decision-making.
"Self-control is part of daily decision-making. When presented with conflicting desires and opportunities, self-control allows one to maintain ...
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- Everyone knows that exercise generally helps the cardiovascular system, but much remains unknown about how the benefits arise, and what to expect in different people who exercise to improve their health. To gain a more precise understanding of how exercise improves health and whom it helps most, researchers analyzed the results of 160 randomized clinical trials with nearly 7,500 participants. The review appears open access in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
"Our meta-analysis is one of the first studies to systematically ...
Study found 35% fewer bird species in agricultural habitats
Researchers say farmland is a poor substitute for natural areas but simple improvements could make a difference to biodiversity conservation
Research led by the University of Exeter has found a substantial reduction in bird species living in cultivated mango orchards compared to natural habitats in Southern Africa. The results, which are published today in the journal Landscape Ecology, highlight the value of assessing habitats prior to land use change to predict the impact of agriculture on biodiversity.
The ...
Wind turbines could be installed under some of the biggest bridges on the road network to produce electricity. So it is confirmed by calculations carried out by a European researchers team, that have taken a viaduct in the Canary Islands as a reference. This concept could be applied in heavily built-up territories or natural areas with new constructions limitations.
The Juncal Viaduct, in Gran Canaria, has served as a reference for Spanish and British researchers to verify that the wind blowing between the pillars on this kind of infrastructures can move wind turbines ...
Amsterdam, July 2, 2015 - Biologically active molecules released by digesting bread and pasta can survive digestion and potentially pass through the gut lining, suggests new research. The study, published in the journal of Food Research International, reveals the molecules released when real samples of bread and pasta are digested, providing new information for research into gluten sensitivity.
The research is in vitro - in the lab rather than in humans - and the authors of the study, from the University of Milan, Italy, say that more research is needed to determine what ...
With the number of individuals affected by cognitive decline expected to rise over the next few decades, investigating its potential causes is of major public health interest. Two new studies published today in the American Journal of Hypertension delve into the connection between hypertension and cognitive decline.
Racial disparity in cognitive and functional disability in hypertension and its mortality
Researchers assessed the prevalence and racial disparity of subjective cognitive and functional limitations and their impact on mortality in the hypertensive US ...
