Prevalence of Tobacco Use in US Adults

HealthDay News — Overall, 22.1% of working US adults currently use any form of tobacco, according to a study published online in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Girija Syamlal, MBBS, from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed data from the National Health Interview Survey for 2014 to 2016 to describe the most recent prevalence estimates of current tobacco product use among working adults in the United States.

The researchers found that 22.1% of working adults currently used any form of tobacco; 15.4%, 5.8%, 3%, and 3.6% used cigarettes, other combustible tobacco, smokeless tobacco, and electronic cigarettes, respectively; 4.6% reported current use of 2 or more tobacco products. Any tobacco use varied by industry, from 11% among education service workers to 34.3% among construction workers; current use of 2 or more tobacco products was highest (7.1%) among construction workers. Any tobacco use varied by occupation, from 9.3% among life, physical, and social science workers to 37.2% among installation, maintenance, and repair workers; current use of 2 or more tobacco products was highest (10.1%) among installation, maintenance, and repair workers.

“Proven interventions to prevent and reduce tobacco product use, including current use of multiple products, among working adults are important,” the authors write. “Workplace tobacco-control interventions have been especially effective in reducing cigarette smoking prevalence.”

Reference

Syamlal G, King BA, Mazurek JM. Tobacco use among working adults – United States, 2014-2016. MMWR Morbid Mortal Wkly Rep. 2017;66:1130-1135. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6642a2