Trends and Demographic Differences in the Incidence and Mean Age of Starting to Smoke Cigarettes Reg
Thursday, January 19, 2023
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
Cheng
YJ, Cornelius ME, Wang TW, Homa DM.
Trends and Demographic
Differences in the Incidence and Mean Age of Starting to Smoke Cigarettes
Regularly, National Health Interview Survey, 1997-2018.
Public Health Reports. 2022;0(0). doi:10.1177/00333549221138295
Objectives.
Surveillance of cigarette smoking behavior provides evidence for evaluating the
impact of current tobacco control measures. We examined temporal changes and
demographic differences in the incidence and mean age of starting to smoke
cigarettes regularly in the United States.
Methods.
We conducted retrospective birth-cohort and cross-sectional analyses using
self-reported data from the 1997-2018 National Health Interview Survey to
evaluate trends and demographic differences in the incidence and mean age of
starting to smoke cigarettes regularly among participants aged 18-84 years. We
estimated the incidence and mean age of starting to smoke cigarettes regularly
by using Poisson and linear regression.
Results.
Among adults born during 1950-1999, the incidence of starting to smoke
cigarettes regularly before age 35 years decreased by 18.8% (95% CI,
17.0%-20.7%) per 10 years, with a peak incidence at age about age 18 years.
Male, non-Hispanic White, and US-born people had a higher incidence of starting
to smoke cigarettes regularly than female, other racial and ethnic, and
non–US-born people, respectively (P <
.001 for all). From 1997 to 2018, the mean age of starting to smoke cigarettes
regularly decreased by 0.4% (95% CI, 0.2%-0.6%) per 10 years among adults who
ever smoked.
Conclusion.
The incidence of starting to smoke cigarettes regularly decreased dramatically
at all ages during the study period, which suggests a positive impact of
current tobacco control measures. For evaluating trends in starting to smoke
cigarettes regularly, incidence can be a more sensitive indicator of temporal
change than mean age. Differences in smoking incidence by demographic subgroup
suggest that additional opportunities exist to further reduce the incidence of
starting to smoke cigarettes regularly.
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