Literature review

Caught in the tapestry of tobacco: Why I smoke

Debbie Treloar
University of Mississippi, Medical Center School of Nursing, Jackson, MS, United States of America

Jennie Gunn
University of Mississippi, Medical Center School of Nursing, Jackson, MS, United States of America

PP: 51 - 57

Abstract

Faced with the knowledge that smoking is dangerous, women continue to smoke cigarettes, and the number is growing. In contrast breast cancer is being diagnosed earlier, and women are listening to the call for mammograms and examination screenings. Why then, are women not listening to the call to never start or stop smoking? In nursing today it has become necessary to put forth a greater effort to call attention to the toll of lung cancer and other smoking related diseases. There is significant disparity in smoking groups targeted for research. One particular group has been ignored in past research, the middle-aged woman. Research is needed to understand why women use tobacco products in this group and to find what is needed to discourage smoking. In this article, we explore nursing research in the area of middle-aged women and tobacco use. Interlaced throughout the literature review is the story of a 57 year old female and her experiences with smoking.

Keywords

Tobacco use; smoking; middle-aged women; research; nursing practice

Article Text

The effects of tobacco are well documented, but despite a wealth of evidence, women globally continue to smoke at alarming rates. Tobacco use among women is a growing problem throughout the world. Women comprise 20% of the world's more than one billion smokers and in developing countries there is a 3.4% annual rise in use of tobacco products by women (World Health Organization (WHO), 2010). It has been reported that women who smoke are more resistant to treatment compared to men and have greater difficulty with cessation (McKee, Maciejewski, Falba, & Mazure, 2003).

In 2007 in the US, 19.8 million women smoked and in Australia one in six adults smoked (Australian Institute of Health and Wellness (AIWH), 2010; Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 2007). Of growing concern is the use of other forms of tobacco such as smokeless tobacco and shisha. In Lebanon and Jordan, 30% and 20% respectively of girls and women use tobacco in a form other than cigarettes (WHO, 2010). Due to the narrowing in the gap of smoking between women and men, women today are now sharing a much larger burden of smoking related diseases. Reports suggest that women have more difficulty quitting and experience higher relapse rates than men who smoke (Sheahan, 2002; WHO, 2010). McKee, Maciejewski, Falba, & Mazure (2003), noted that women who experience a significant stressful event, such as a negative financial event or change in residence are more likely to relapse or fail to quit than men.

As nurses it has become paramount that we assist with discouraging and deglamorizing tobacco use. Reductions in deaths from breast cancer are a direct result of increased attention to this disease process. The significant decrease in death from breast cancer can be attributed directly to the increased awareness of breast cancer prevention (CDC, 2007). This same attention must be given to lung cancer. In nursing today it has become necessary to put forth a greater effort to call attention to the toll of lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases in middle-aged women. There is a need for nursing research that focuses on this population of women and the meaning smoking has for them.

The lacing of a female's story, age 57, and Literature Review

The allure of the cigarette is provocative; why does something so dangerous seem so comforting? Those who do not smoke may not understand the attraction of cigarette use. On a fall day, outside a coffee shop, sitting at a small iron table underneath a blue umbrella in a big city near the park, I do the unthinkable. A colorful package of cigarettes rests on the table. After tapping the pack on the table to wake them and provoke flavor, I slide one easily from the pack. My cigarette lighter is pink that hides within my purse, but I prefer the matches from the classy restaurant down on Summer Street. The little box of matches is beautiful, black with gold writing, and inside are golden tipped wooden sticks that when rubbed against the outside strike strip brilliantly produce a yellow, vibrant flame. The cigarette is long and sleek. I place it between my lips and bring the burning match to it. As the white paper burns bright red at the tip, the smoke is drawn into my mouth, throat, and lungs. Leaning my head back to savor the moment, I realize it is a love affair between a woman and tobacco-a forbidden love affair. The children are grown and now it is just the two of us and we are happy in our solitude. The quiet moments, hidden away like this one, are savored. It is a peaceful moment, unsuspecting to those who know me. But this love affair between the tobacco and I, may prove grave, and I am aware of that, but it does not stop me.

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