Density of tobacco retailers and its association with sociodemographic characteristics of communities across New York

Summary Objective To examine the association of community median income, race/ethnicity and age with the availability of tobacco products in New York State and six subareas. Study design Spatial regression analysis applied to licensed tobacco retailer and sociodemographic data in 2009 in New York. Methods This study assessed the association between tobacco retailer density and four demographic correlates (percentage African American, percentage Hispanic, percentage aged Results In New York State, residential census tracts with higher proportions of African Americans and Hispanics generally had a significantly higher density of tobacco retailers. Census tracts with a higher percentage of residents aged Conclusions Tobacco retailers tend to be more densely distributed in areas characterized by high minority or low-income populations, but these associations were not found in all areas. This may suggest that policy measures to reduce the density of tobacco retailers may be more effective at reducing disparities in tobacco availability and exposure to point-of-sale advertising in some areas than in others.