Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults — United States, 2016

TLDR

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, killing about 443,000 adults annually and costing roughly $193 billion in medical expenses and lost productivity. The study evaluates progress toward Healthy People 2020’s goal of reducing adult cigarette smoking and stresses that broader implementation of evidence‑based prevention strategies is required to reach the 12 % target. The authors analyzed 2011 National Health Interview Survey data to estimate current national cigarette smoking prevalence. In 2011, 19.0 % of adults smoked cigarettes—unchanged from 2010—while the proportion of daily smokers smoking ≥30 cigarettes per day fell from 12.6 % in 2005 to 9.1 % in 2011, the proportion smoking 1–9 cigarettes per day rose from 16.4 % to 22.0 %, and evidence‑based interventions can help adults quit and prevent initiation.

Abstract

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Surgeon General's report, approximately 443,000 U.S. adults die from smoking-related illnesses each year. In addition, smoking has been estimated to cost the United States $96 billion in direct medical expenses and $97 billion in lost productivity annually. To assess progress toward the Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) objective to reduce cigarette smoking by adults (objective TU-1.1),* CDC's Office on Smoking and Health used data from the 2011 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to estimate current national cigarette smoking prevalence. The findings indicate that 19.0% of adults smoked cigarettes in 2011 and no statistically significant change in current adult smoking prevalence occurred from 2010 (19.3%) to 2011 (19.0%). Among daily smokers, the proportion who smoked ≥30 cigarettes per day (CPD) declined significantly, from 12.6% in 2005 to 9.1% in 2011, whereas the proportion of those who smoked 1-9 CPD increased significantly, from 16.4% to 22.0%. To help reduce the national prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults to the HP2020 target of 12%, population-based prevention strategies (e.g., increasing prices of tobacco products, antitobacco media campaigns featuring graphic personal stories on the adverse health impact of smoking, smoke-free laws for workplaces and public places, and barrier-free access to help quitting) will need to be implemented more extensively. Such evidence-based tobacco control interventions can help adults quit and prevent the initiation of tobacco use.