Association of availability of tobacco products with socio-economic and racial/ethnic characteristics of neighbourhoods

Objective: To examine the association of neighbourhood median income and racial/ethnic composition with the availability of tobacco products in Omaha Metropolitan Area, Nebraska, USA. Methods: A total of 94 census tracts were selected at random. The outcome measures were the percentage of stores that sold tobacco and the number of stores that sold tobacco per square mile in each census tract. Results: Median household income was negatively associated (P < 0.001), and percentage African American population (P < 0.001) and percentage Hispanic population (P = 0.049) were positively associated with the percentage of stores that sold tobacco. Median household income was negatively associated (P < 0.001) and percentage Hispanic population (P = 0.012) was positively associated with the number of stores that sold tobacco per square mile. Conclusion: Policies that reduce the number of tobacco outlets might reduce social disparities in tobacco use. (C) 2010 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.