PHOENIX, Jun 12, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- There is wide variation in smoking
practices across the United States and a clear relationship between smoking and
mortality rate, researchers said.
Principal investigator Gary G. Giovino of the University at Buffalo School of
Public Health and Health Professions said the report points out that even after
four decades of tobacco control efforts, one-fifth of American adults still
smoke and prevalence is especially high among populations with lower levels of
education and income, Native Americans and those with psychiatric and substance
abuse problems.
Among those ages 18-29 smoking prevalence was 2.5 times higher in Kentucky at
36.2 percent than in California at 14.4 percent. In 2006-07, 66 percent of
adults age 30 or older in New Hampshire who had ever smoked said they had quit,
while in West Virginia for the same age group, 45 percent of smokers said they
had quit, the study found.
The report presents state-level analyses showing that in states with the lowest
prevalence of smoking, the remaining smokers are less likely to show indicators
of dependence and more likely to want to quit, compared to smokers in high
prevalence states.
In 2006, approximately 27 percent of adult Medicaid recipients were smokers,
significantly higher than the 17 percent rate among adults with private
insurance, Giovino said.
The findings were presented at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health
meeting in Phoenix.
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