Abstract
Background: Although smoking tobacco products has declined, electronic nicotine delivery systems(ENDS) have flooded the marketplace. With increased retailing of carcinogenic tobacco products, there is a need to better understand how they may influence lung cancer and cardiovascular disease outcomes and where they are located. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine the association between the location of tobacco/vape shops and lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. Methods: Aggregate data from the U.S. Census, Google Maps, and Yelp was used to determine the number of smoke shops by city in San Gabriel Valley, CA and Antelope Valley, CA. Lung cancer incidence, lung cancer mortality, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality was obtained from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. A correlation analysis was conducted and Pearson correlation coefficients with p-values were obtained. Additional socioecological variables were also included for exploration. A p-value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. All analyses were conducted using SAS v9.4 software. Results: Data showed that the number of tobacco smoke shops was significantly positively correlated with lung cancer incidence (rho [ρ]= 0.546; p= 0.0027), lung cancer mortality (ρ= 0.517; p=0.0048), and cardiovascular disease mortality (ρ= 0.620; p= 0.0004). Percentage of residents 0-17 years old (ρ=0.532; p= 0.0036), percentage of Black residents (ρ= 0.420; p= 0.0259) and American Indian/Alaskan Native residents (ρ= 0.676; p<.0001); percentage of residents with some college education (ρ= 0.431;p= 0.0222), percentage of residents meeting physical activity guidelines (ρ= 0.444; p= 0.0180), percentage of smokers (ρ= 0.370; p= 0.0529), crime rate (ρ= 0.693; p= <.0001), and percentage of depressed residents (ρ= 0.473; p= 0.0111) were positively correlated with the number of smoke shops. Percentage of residents 65+ years old (ρ= -0.567; p= 0.0017), percentage of Asian residents (ρ= -0.382;p= 0.0450), percentage of residents with a college degree (ρ= -0.407; p=0.0318), and percentage of foreign- born residents (ρ= -0.429; p= 0.0228) were negatively correlated with the number of smoke shops. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the number of tobacco shops is associated with lung cancer incidence and mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality. Neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native residents, and depressed residents and high-crime areas may have more smoke shops. Additional studies are needed to verify these results, which may help inform tobacco control policies. Addressing cancer and CVD disparities, particularly tobacco-related diseases, may require stronger laws and licensing regulating the tobacco industry and tobacco/vaping shops to prevent targeting of minorities and other vulnerable populations. This data can help inform the membership of tobacco control task forces and committees at governmental, community, health center and academic sites.
Citation Format: Christyl T. Dawson, Kimlin T. Ashing, Brian Tiep, Jonjon Macalintal, Sophia Yeung, Gaole Song, Timothy O'Connor, Udochukwu Obodo, Cary Presant. Applying geospatial strategies to examine tobacco/vape shops and socioecological context with lung cancer and cardiovascular disease outcomes [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: Thirteenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2020 Oct 2-4. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(12 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-064.