Rafael Meza

Biographic Data

ID187099
NAMERafael Meza
GIVEN NAMESRafael
FAMILY NAMEMeza
SIGNATUREMEZA R
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Michigan
ORCID0000-0002-1076-5037
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS35
TOTAL CITATIONS3
AUTHOR COUNT35
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2011
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX1

  • Childhood maltreatment and mental-physical multimorbidity

    Open AccessAndrew J Fullerton, Alpamys Issanov et al.ARTICLECanadian Journal of Public Health2026References: 25

    Childhood maltreatment shows a strong dose-response association with mental-physical multimorbidity. Further research is needed to clarify gender-specific pathways

  • Recent trends in sales of electronic nicotine devices and oral nicotine pouches by flavour

    Open AccessClinton H Durney, Rafael Meza et al.ARTICLETobacco Control2025

    Differences in ENDS and ONP sales trends by flavour type underscore the importance of ongoing, detailed monitoring of nicotine product sales and use, to clarify public health implications and guide regulation. Given the growing variety of nicotine and tobacco products available today, tobacco regulatory frameworks must consider trends across this rapidly evolving market to understand and mitigate associated public health risks

  • SimSmoke simulation models by educational status

    Open AccessDavid T Levy, James Buszkiewicz et al.ARTICLETobacco Control2025

    We found major differences in the initial levels and rates of decline in smoking prevalence by education, leading to widening health inequities. Further study is warranted on education-related policy impacts and the relationship of electronic nicotine delivery systems and other non-cigarette product use to cigarette use

  • Patterns of Medical Care Cost by Service Type Associated With Lung Cancer Screening

    Kris Wain, Mahesh Maiyani et al.ARTICLEMedical Care2025References: 45

    INTRODUCTION: Lung cancer screening (LCS) enhances early stage cancer detection; however, its impact on health care costs in real-world clinical settings is not well understood. The objective of this study was to assess changes in health care costs during the 12 months before LCS compared with the 12 months after. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed health care costs based upon Medicare's fee-for-service reimbursement system using data fro…

  • US Tobacco 21 Policies and Potential Mortality Reductions by State

    Open AccessJamie Tam, Alyssa Crippen et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2024

    This study found that early adoption and implementation of T21 policies maximizes potential premature mortality reductions. However, the strength of T21 policies and enforcement varies widely across states. Enforcement of the federal T21 law is critical in the 8 states without state-level T21 cigarette policies of their own

  • Transformation of the tobacco product market in Japan, 2011–2023

    Open AccessK Michael Cummings, A Roberson et al.ARTICLETobacco Control2024

    While many factors may account for the decreased sale of cigarettes in Japan over the past 12 years, the increased sale of HTPs appears to be a factor

  • Changing patterns of cigarette and ENDS transitions in the USA

    Open AccessAndrew F Brouwer, Jihyoun Jeon et al.ARTICLETobacco Control2024

    The persistence of ENDS use among adults remained high in 2019-2021, but a larger fraction of dual users transitioned to ENDS-only use compared with 2017-2019. Because the fraction of cigarette-only users switching to dual use remained low, especially among older adults, the public health implications of this change are minimal

  • Evaluating trends in cigarette and HTP use in Japan and measurement issues in the National Health and Nutrition Survey

    David T Levy, Mona Issabakhsh et al.ARTICLETobacco Control2024

    While suggesting that HTPs helped some people who smoke to quit smoking, this study also shows the difficulties in eliciting accurate survey responses about product use and distinguishing the impact of a potentially harm-reducing product in an environment subject to rapidly evolving patterns of use

  • Latent Class Analysis of Sexual Partnerships and Substance Use Across Generations

    Open AccessE Cowles Andrus, Andrew F Brouwer et al.ARTICLEArchives of Sexual Behavior2024References: 56

  • A comparative study on behavior, awareness and belief about cervical cancer among rural and urban women in Vietnam

    Open AccessMinh Tung Phung, Pham Le An et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2023

    Cervical cancer is the second most common gynecologic cancer in Vietnam but based on the literature, only ~25% of Vietnamese women reported ever being screened for cervical cancer. To inform strategies to reduce the cervical cancer burden in Southern Vietnam where disease incidence is higher than the national average, this study examined behaviors, awareness, barriers, and beliefs about cervical cancer screening among rural and urban women in thi…

  • Trends in US Adult Smoking Prevalence, 2011 to 2022

    Open AccessRafael Meza, Pianpian Cao et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2023

    This cross-sectional study found that smoking prevalence decreased from 2011 to 2022 in all age groups except adults 65 years or older, with faster decreases among younger than older adults. These findings suggest that the greatest gains in terms of reducing smoking-attributable morbidity and mortality could be achieved by focusing on individuals with low socioeconomic status, as this population has the highest smoking rates and the worst health …

  • The smoking and vaping model, A user-friendly model for examining the country-specific impact of nicotine Vaping product use

    Open AccessLuz María Sánchez‐Romero, Alex C Liber et al.ARTICLEBMC Public Health2023

    SAVM enables non-modelers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to analyze the potential population health effects of NVP use and public health interventions

  • Changing patterns of cigarette and ENDS transitions in the USA

    Open AccessAndrew F Brouwer, Jihyoun Jeon et al.ARTICLETobacco Control2023

    ENDS-only and dual use became more persistent. Middle-aged and older adults who used both products became less likely to transition to cigarette-only use but not more likely to discontinue cigarettes. Youth and young adults became more likely to transition to ENDS-only use

  • Comparison of Cholangiocarcinoma and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Incidence Trends from 1993 to 2012 in Lampang, Thailand

    Open AccessPianpian Cao, Laura S Rozek et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of…2022

    Liver cancer is the most common cancer in Northern Thailand, mainly due to the dietary preference for raw fish, which can lead to infection by the parasite, O. viverrini , a causal agent of cholangiocarcinoma. We conducted a temporal trend analysis of cross-sectional incidence rates of liver cancer in Lampang, Northern Thailand. Liver cancer data from 1993-2012 were extracted from Lampang Cancer Registry. The multiple imputation by chained equati…

  • A Decision-Theoretic Public Health Framework for Heated Tobacco and Nicotine Vaping Products

    Open AccessDavid T Levy, Christopher J Cadham et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of…2022

    Markets for nicotine vaping products (NVPs) and heated tobacco products (HTPs) have grown as these products became positioned as harm-reduction alternatives to combusted tobacco products. Herein, we present a public health decision-theoretic framework incorporating different patterns of HTP, NVP, and cigarette use to examine their impacts on population health. Our framework demonstrates that, for individuals who would have otherwise smoked, HTP u…

  • Public health impact of a US menthol cigarette ban on the non-Hispanic black population

    Open AccessMona Issabakhsh, Rafael Meza et al.ARTICLETobacco Control2022

    A menthol cigarette ban will substantially reduce the smoking-associated health impact on the NHB population, thereby reducing health disparities

  • Estimated Prevalence of Smoking and Smoking-Attributable Mortality Associated With Graphic Health Warnings on Cigarette Packages in the US From 2022 to 2100

    Open AccessJamie Tam, Jihyoun Jeon et al.ARTICLEJAMA Health Forum2021

    This decision analytical model estimated that FDA cigarette graphic health warnings, if implemented in 2022, would be associated with public health benefits. The model also estimated that more smoking-attributable deaths would have been averted if the policy had been implemented in 2012. Industry litigation and delays to implementing tobacco regulations may have been harmful for public health

  • Sociodemographic Patterns of Exclusive and Dual Use of ENDS and Menthol/Non-Menthol Cigarettes among US Youth (Ages 15–17) Using Two Nationally Representative Surveys (2013–2017)

    Open AccessAkash Patel, Jana L Hirschtick et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of…2021

    The use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) among youth in the United States has increased rapidly in the past decade. Simultaneously, while youth cigarette smoking has declined considerably, youth are still more likely to use menthol cigarettes than any other age group. We used nationally representative data on 15-17-year-olds from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study and the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS…

  • US Nicotine Vaping Product SimSmoke Simulation Model

    Open AccessDavid T Levy, Luz María Sánchez‐Romero et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of…2021

    The public health impact of nicotine vaping products (NVPs) is subject to a complex set of uncertain transitions between NVP and cigarette use. Instead, we apply an indirect method to gauge the impact of NVP use on smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths (SADs) using the well-established SimSmoke tobacco control policy simulation model. Upon validating the model before NVPs were more widely used, we project a No-NVP (i.e., in the absen…

  • A comparison of tobacco product prevalence by different frequency of use thresholds across three US surveys

    Open AccessLuz María Sánchez‐Romero, Luz María Sánchez-Romero et al.ARTICLEBMC Public Health2021

    The estimated prevalence of each tobacco product use depends largely on the survey and frequency of use threshold adopted. The choice of survey and frequency threshold merits serious consideration when monitoring patterns of tobacco use

  • Nicotine dependence of cigarette and heated tobacco users in Japan, 2019

    Open AccessYan Kwan Lau, Sumiyo Okawa et al.ARTICLETobacco Control2021

    Regardless of HTP use, daily cigarette users had higher prevalence of nicotine dependence compared with non-daily cigarette users. Exclusive HTP users had similar (or potentially higher) dependence compared with exclusive, non-daily cigarette users. Longitudinal studies are needed to interrogate the public health implications of growing HTP use worldwide

  • Public health impact of a US ban on menthol in cigarettes and cigars

    Open AccessDavid T Levy, Rafael Meza et al.ARTICLETobacco Control2021

    Our findings strongly support the implementation of a ban on menthol in cigarettes and cigars

  • Cigarette taxes, prices, and disparities in current smoking in the United States

    Open AccessLucie Kalousova, David T Levy et al.ARTICLESSM - Population Health2020

    Increasing cigarette taxes has been the cornerstone of tobacco control policy. Recent work has argued that raising cigarette taxes alone may no longer be an effective strategy for lowering smoking rates. We largely confirm these findings but also find that increases in price continue to predict lower smoking participation in most model specifications. We argue that raising cigarette prices via taxation remains an effective public health policy. W…

  • Using self-collection HPV testing to increase engagement in cervical cancer screening programs in rural Guatemala

    Open AccessAnna Gottschlich, Álvaro Rivera-Andrade et al.ARTICLEBMC Public Health2020

    Participation in self-collection HPV testing campaigns may increase likelihood of involvement in screening programs. However, results varied between communities, and reporting of screening histories was inconsistent. Future work should identify what community-specific factors promote success in HPV testing programs and focus on improving education on existing cervical cancer interventions

  • Smoking trends in Mexico, 2002–2016

    Luis Zavala‐Arciniega, Luz Myriam Reynales-Shigematsu et al.ARTICLETobacco Control2020

    Full implementation of the FCTC is necessary to further reduce smoking. Specific interventions may be needed to target non-daily smokers, who now comprise more than half of current smokers in Mexico