HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2008.149260v1 99/9/1699    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Bernstein, S. L. Articles by Shelley, D. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bernstein, S. L. Articles by Shelley, D. Related Collections Smoking Cessation Urban Health Tobacco Control

Steven L. Bernstein, MD, Lisa Cabral, MD, Juliana Maantay, PhD, Dorothy Peprah, MPH, David Lounsbury, PhD, Andrew Maroko, PhD, Mary Murphy, PhD and Donna Shelley, MD, MPH

At the time this article was written, Steven L. Bernstein, Lisa Cabral, and Mary Murphy were with the Department of Emergency Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, and Montefiore Medical Center, New York. Juliana Maantay and Andrew Maroko are with the Lehman College, City University of New York, New York. Dorothy Peprah is with Cicatelli Associates, Inc, New York. David Lounsbury was with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. Donna Shelley was with the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York.

Correspondence: Correspondence can be sent to Steven L. Bernstein, MD, Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, 464 Congress Avenue, Suite 260, New Haven, CT 06519 (e-mail: steven.bernstein{at}yale.edu). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints/Eprints" link.

Objectives. We surveyed the availability of tobacco products and nonprescription nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in pharmacies in New York City, stratified by the race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES) of the surrounding neighborhoods to determine whether disparities in availability existed.

Methods. Surveyors visited a random sample of retail pharmacies to record the availability of tobacco products and nonprescription NRT. We used census data and geographic information systems analysis to determine the SES of each neighborhood. We used logistic modeling to explore relations between SES and the availability of NRT and tobacco products.

Results. Of 646 pharmacies sampled, 90.8% sold NRT and 46.9% sold cigarettes. NRT and cigarettes were slightly more available in pharmacies in neighborhoods with a higher SES. NRT was more expensive in poorer neighborhoods.

Conclusions. Small disparities existed in access to nonprescription NRT and cigarettes. The model did not adequately account for cigarette access, because of availability from other retail outlets. These results may explain some of the excess prevalence of cigarette use in low-SES areas.