Trends in cigarette smoking prevalence and status among U.S. adults with disabilities, 2015-2019

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of current cigarette smoking is higher in people with disabilities compared to those without. However, little is known about smoking status and trends in smoking by disability functioning domain.

Methods: Data from the 2015-2019 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health were used to estimate the prevalence of past-month and daily cigarette smoking, former smoking, and nicotine dependence for people with any disability and six disability functioning domains. Logistic regression models estimated the odds of each outcome by disability domain compared to no disability, adjusting for sociodemographic factors.

Results: From 2015-2019, the overall prevalence of current cigarette smoking (23.3% vs. 16.7%) and the proportion of those with nicotine dependence (14.6% vs 8.0%) was higher in people with any disability compared to those without (ps < 0.001). The prevalence of current cigarette smoking decreased while the prevalence of former cigarette smoking increased from 2015 to 2019 (ps < 0.05). People with any disability had higher odds of current smoking (AOR=1.20; 95% CI 1.16, 1.25) and similar odds of former smoking (AOR=1.00; 95% CI 0.95, 1.06) compared to people without disabilities. Odds of current and former smoking varied by domain.

Conclusion: The prevalence of cigarette smoking among people with any disability decreased over time but remained higher than those without. People with any disability had similar odds of former smoking, though differences existed by disability domain. Future research should explore additional smoking and quit behaviors by disability functioning domain.

Keywords: Inequities, tobacco use; Persons with disabilities.

Figure 1.

Weighted prevalence of adults indicating current cigarette smoking by disability and disability functioning domain by year. Data are from the 2015–2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Figure 2.

Adjusted odds ratios of current, former, and daily smoking and nicotine dependence by disability and functioning domain. Data are combined from the 2015–2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Note. Odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals adjusting for sex, age group, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, education, income, health insurance, past-month any illicit drug use, and year. Along the y-axis is disability and type. The x-axis uses a log scale and represents the adjusted odds ratio. Estimates are weighted. Boldface indicates statistical significance (p<0.05) with people without each respective disability serving as the reference group.