Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults - United States, 2016

Abstract

The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that the burden of death and disease from tobacco use in the United States is overwhelmingly caused by cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products (1). Cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. adults, and about 480,000 U.S. deaths per year are caused by cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke exposure (1). To assess progress toward the Healthy People 2020 target of reducing the proportion of U.S. adults aged ≥18 years who smoke cigarettes to ≤12.0% (objective TU-1.1),* CDC analyzed data from the 2016 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). In 2016, the prevalence of current cigarette smoking among adults was 15.5%, which was a significant decline from 2005 (20.9%); however, no significant change has occurred since 2015 (15.1%). In 2016, the prevalence of cigarette smoking was higher among adults who were male, aged 25-64 years, American Indian/Alaska Native or multiracial, had a General Education Development (GED) certificate, lived below the federal poverty level, lived in the Midwest or South, were uninsured or insured through Medicaid, had a disability/limitation, were lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB), or had serious psychological distress. During 2005-2016, the percentage of ever smokers who quit smoking increased from 50.8% to 59.0%. Proven population-based interventions are critical to reducing the health and economic burden of smoking-related diseases among U.S. adults, particularly among subpopulations with the highest smoking prevalences (1,2).

FIGURE 1

Percentage of daily smokers aged ≥18 years who smoked 1–9, 10–19, 20–29, and ≥30 cigarettes per day — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2005–2016 * Persons who had smoked ≥100 cigarettes during their lifetime and reported smoking cigarettes every day at the time of interview.

FIGURE 2

Quit ratios among ever smokers aged ≥18 years, overall and by age group — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2005–2016 * Quit ratios defined as the ratio of former smokers to ever smokers for each survey year. ^† Respondents aged ≥18 years who reported having smoked ≥100 cigarettes during their lifetime. ^§ p-value for trend 2005–2016 adjusted for sex and race/ethnicity: overall: p<0.0001; 18–24 years: p = 0.0064; 25–44 years: p<0.0001; 45–64 years: p = 0.0002; ≥65 years: p = 0.0874.