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Background: Previous studies have found that Latinos who smoke are less likely than non-Latino white smokers to use pharmaceutical aids such as nicotine replacement therapies or to receive physician advice to stop smoking. This qualitative study further explored barriers and facilitators to smoking cessation among Latino adults in Maryland., Methods: Five Spanish-language focus groups were conducted in September 2008 in Maryland with Latino current smoker and ex-smoker men and women (n = 55). Participants were recruited through flyers, information sheets, and site visits at community health clinics and Latino events, and were predominately of Central American origin., Results: Personal health concerns were the main reason to quit smoking; impact on children and family health and role model pressure were frequently mentioned. Barriers to quit smoking included environmental temptation and social factors, emotional pressure, addiction, and habitual behavior. Respondents mostly relied on themselves for cessation, with little use of cessation products or other medications, or awareness of available services., Conclusions: Social influence serves both as a strong motivation for Latinos to quit smoking and as a source of temptation to continue smoking. Favored by both current smokers and ex-smokers, lay health promoters are effective agents to reach Latinos with smoking cessation interventions. In addition, the low use of cessation services could be improved by increasing awareness and availability of Spanish-language cessation services.

Introduction: Diabetes organizations recommend that people with diabetes should not smoke because of increased risk of diabetes complications. We describe smoking rates and health care service use among adults with diabetes in Florida and Maryland and identify the role of dentists in offering smoking cessation advice and services., Methods: We analyzed data from 3 state telephone surveys: the 2007 Florida Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (n = 39,549), the 2007 Florida Tobacco Callback Survey (n = 3,560), and the 2006 Maryland Adult Tobacco Survey (n = 21,799)., Results: Findings indicated that 15.7% of adults with diabetes in Florida and 11.6% of adults with diabetes in Maryland currently smoke. Current smoking among people with diabetes was associated with age, education, income, and race/ethnicity. Almost all respondents with diabetes who were current smokers in Florida (92.9%) and Maryland (97.7%) had visited a doctor or health care professional in the past year, and less than half had visited a dentist (40.7% and 44.8%, respectively). Both in Florida and Maryland, approximately two-thirds of adults with diabetes who were smokers and had visited a dentist in the past year had not received advice to quit (63.8% and 63.9%, respectively). In contrast, most adults with diabetes who were smokers and had visited a doctor or health care professional had received advice to quit smoking (95.3% and 84.9%, respectively)., Conclusion: Dentists are in a unique position to identify and demonstrate the oral effects of smoking in patients with diabetes. These data support continued smoking cessation training and education of oral health professionals.