IMMIGRANT WOMEN I N CALIFORNIA
T h e surviving members of families were interviewed about the smoking histories of 113 Mexican-American women who had died of lung cancer during the years 1950 through 1962. T h e frequency of starting to smoke a t a very early age was greater among the imiiiigrants from Mexico than among Mexican-Americans born in the United States. A saniple of 959 Mexican-American households i n Los Angeles County was then studied in 1963-64 and female smoking histories compared with those derived from a 1960-61 California Health Survey. T h e major differences between Mexican immigrant women a n d Californian women generally were a t ages F5 and over: a larger proportion of the immigrant women were cigarette smokers and a much larger proportion (13.1% vs. 0.1%) had begun smoking before age 15. This was not true of younger women ages 2.5-44.
T h e excess lung cancer risk among Mexican immigrant women was reduced from about 3-fold during 1949-53 to about 2-fold during 195842. T h e age distribution of rates showed a peak a t ages 65-74 in 1949-53 and a t ages 75 a n d more in 1958-62. This suggests the excess risk is limited mainly to those women who spent youth a n d childhood in Mexico prior to about 1920 a n d is consistent with the unusual smoking histories of older immigrant women. The smoking histories a n d the lung cancer experience of Mexican immigrant women are tending toward the levels for the California female population. It was not possible however, to demonstrate that all of the excess Iring cancer risk was due to cigarette smoking. h' ljNt!Sl'AI.I.Y 111G11 RISK 01; (.ASCl.:K 01. TIIE A lung among MexicanAmerican women was first reported in 1954 by StcinerJ in his study of a large autopsy series at Los Angeles County General IIospital. IIis observation was confirmed and refined in a study of statewide California mortality for the years 1949-* * Epitlcmiologv Iir:inch, Sntional Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md. 20014.
We wish to ncknowlcdgc the assistance of pcople at the University of California at Los Angeh: D r . Ray Jessen, School of Busines Administration, for designing the sample of 3Icsic:rii-.~iiicrican womrn i n Los Angeles County; Dr. 1 x 0 Kcetlcr, Sociology 1)epartment. for help in testing the qiics('ioniiaire and supervising the field wol-k; and the graduate assistants w l i o aided both men.