Understanding disparities in subpopulations of women who smoke.

Tobacco use is the leading known cause of preventable death and disease among women. In this paper we use fundamental concepts and definitions from the general health-disparities literature to examine smoking behavior among subpopulations of women. We focus on three factors associated with disparities in smoking behavior among subgroups of women-race and/or ethnicity, educational status, and acculturation. We suggest that research on smoking behavior among subpopulations of women is beginning to reveal not only different smoking behavior but disparities among women in different subpopulations. We conclude that subpopulation-based understanding of gender differences and disparities in smoking is critical to improvement of research design, intervention objectives, and public health policy on smoking in women.