Featured Interventionist

Karen Ahijevych, Ph.D., R.N.

Karen Ahijevych (A-hee'-a-vich) has been engaged in tobacco-related research since 1988. Her background prior to entering the doctoral program in nursing at Ohio State University was in health promotion of adults. Under the guidance of her advisor, Dr. Mary Ellen Wewers, she developed her skills in research methods focused on women and cigarette smoking. She is certified as an American Lung Association Freedom from Smoking facilitator and has trained others to become facilitators. She states that participants in the smoking cessation groups taught her a great deal about the pervasive nature of cigarettes in people's lives and seeing the sense of control among successful quitters was very rewarding.

Early in her research career, the smoking prevalence among African American women in Ohio was higher than that among Caucasian women and relatively little published research with African American women cigarette smokers existed. Her dissertation study of 185 African American women characterized behavioral nicotine dependence and the biological exposure to nicotine as measured by its major metabolite, cotinine. Since then one-half of the samples in her research with women cigarette smokers have been African American.

She has integrated measures to quantify exposure to smoke constituents such as the carbon monoxide in exhaled air and smoking topography or the individual style of puff volume and duration.

CO Monitor	Smoking Topography Equipment

In addition, the Biobehavioral Laboratory at the Ohio State University is equipped to measure nicotine and cotinine in plasma and saliva using high performance liquid chromatography. These measures provide important data concerning exposure to nicotine.

Her work has examined elimination of cotinine during 6 days of smoking abstinence, which demonstrated that 10% of women in the study had smoker levels of cotinine 6 days after they had their last cigarette. Other studies examined menthol and the pharmacokinetics of this flavoring additive. In a study of 95 women (one half of whom smoked menthol, and one half of whom were African American), it was demonstrated that menthol cigarette smokers regardless of race had larger puff volumes when smoking their usual cigarette compared to nonmenthol cigarette smokers. In addition, menthol smokers had a shorter time to the first cigarette of the day, an indicator of nicotine dependence. These findings are important as we manage treatment of tobacco dependence with menthol cigarette smokers. The majority of African American cigarette smokers choose a menthol brand. Further, it was determined in a laboratory setting that menthol slows the metabolism of benzopyrene, a carcinogen in cigarette smoke. The metabolite of benzopyrene is less harmful than benzopyrene itself.

Beyond the biobehavioral research described above - Dr. Ahijevych has also conducted pilot work with a school-based pharmacological and behavioral smoking cessation intervention with high school students. This is particularly important in preventing a lifetime of cigarette smoking. One of her doctoral advisees, Teresa Wood, characterized the smoking topography of 50 adolescents and their plasma nicotine and cotinine levels during her NIH funded predoctoral fellowship. Findings illustrated that adolescents, ages 13-18, had nicotine and cotinine exposure similar to that reported in adults emphasizing the need for appropriate treatment of tobacco dependence in teens.

Another doctoral advisee, Sharon Christman, is examining the effect of a 12- week smoking cessation and exercise adoption program in persons with peripheral arterial disease. While this NIH funded study is still in progress - there are positive indications that time to claudication pain has increased when comparing intervention to control group participants. 

Dr. Ahijevych states that the topic of smoking cessation has been a fascinating and rewarding path ranging from biological to behavioral and policy issues.

View Previous Featured Interventionists

• Janie Heath, RN, PhD(c), CCRN, ANP, ACNP
• Mary Ellen Wewers, RN, PhD, MPH, FAAN
• Louise M. Nett, RN, RRT
• Linda Lillington, RN, DNS
• Patricia G. Rienzo, RN, MSN
• Linda Sarna, RN, DNSc, FAAN
• Kathleen O' Connell, RN, PhD, FAAN
• Karen Ahijevych, RN, PhD