Tobacco Product Use Among Adults - United States, 2017

Abstract

Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and causes adverse health consequences, including heart disease, stroke, and multiple types of cancer (1). Although cigarette smoking among U.S. adults has declined considerably, tobacco products have evolved in recent years to include various combustible, noncombustible, and electronic products (1,2). To assess recent national estimates of tobacco product use among U.S. adults aged ≥18 years, CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute analyzed data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). In 2017, an estimated 47.4 million U.S. adults (19.3%) currently used any tobacco product, including cigarettes (14.0%; 34.3 million); cigars, cigarillos, or filtered little cigars (3.8%; 9.3 million); electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) (2.8%; 6.9 million); smokeless tobacco (2.1%; 5.1 million); and pipes, water pipes, or hookahs (1.0%; 2.6 million). Among current tobacco product users, 86.7% (41.1 million) smoked combustible tobacco products, and 19.0% (9.0 million) used ≥2 tobacco products. By univariate analyses, the prevalence of current use of any tobacco product was higher among males than among females; adults aged <65 years than among those aged ≥65 years; non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Natives, whites, blacks, or multiracial adults than among Hispanics or non-Hispanic Asians; adults who lived in the South or Midwest than among those in the West or Northeast; adults who had a general educational development certificate (GED) than among those with other levels of education; adults who earned an annual household income of <$35,000 than among those with those with higher income; lesbian, gay, or bisexual adults than among heterosexual/straight adults; and adults who were divorced/separated/widowed or single/never married/not living with a partner than among those who were married/living with a partner. Prevalence was also higher among those who were uninsured, insured by Medicaid, or had some other public insurance than among those with private insurance or Medicare only; those who had a disability/limitation than among those who did not; and those who had serious psychological distress than among those who did not. Full implementation of evidence-based tobacco control interventions that address the diversity of tobacco products used by U.S. adults, in coordination with regulation of tobacco product manufacturing, marketing, and sales, can reduce tobacco-related disease and death in the United States (1-3).

FIGURE 1

Percentage of adults aged ≥ 18 years who were current cigarette smokers, overall and by sex — National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), United States, 1965–2017 * For NHIS years 1965–1991, current smokers included adults who reported that they had smoked ≥100 cigarettes in their lifetime and currently smoked. Since 1992, current smokers included adults who reported smoking ≥100 cigarettes during their lifetime and specified that they currently smoked every day or on some days. Data are not available for 1967–1969, 1971–1973, 1975, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1989, and 1996 because questions regarding smoking were not included in the NHIS conducted in those years. Related data and documentation can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/data-questionnaires-documentation.htm.

FIGURE 2

Top tobacco product use combinations among adults aged ≥18 years who currently used ≥2 tobacco products^, — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2017 * For cigarettes, current smokers were defined as persons who had smoked ≥100 cigarettes during their lifetime and now smoked either every day or some days. Current users of all other assessed tobacco products were defined as persons who reported use of each respective product every day or some days at the time of survey. ^† Percentages were calculated among adults who currently used ≥2 of the following five tobacco product types: cigarettes; cigars, cigarillos, or filtered little cigars (cigars); regular pipes, water pipe or hookahs (pipes); chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, snus, or dissolvable tobacco (smokeless tobacco); and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). ^§ A total of 26 distinct combinations were assessed (10 two-product type combinations; 10 three-product type combinations; 5 four-product type combinations, and 1 five-product type combination).