Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults — United States, 2016

1The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that the burden of death and disease from tobacco use in the United States is overwhelmingly caused by cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products. Cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. adults, and about 480,000 U.S. deaths per year are caused by cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke exposure. To assess progress toward the Healthy People 2020 target of reducing the proportion of U.S. adults aged ≥18 years who smoke cigarettes to ≤12.0% (objective TU-1.1),* CDC analyzed data from the 2016 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). In 2016, the prevalence of current cigarette smoking among adults was 15.5%, which was a significant decline from 2005 (20.9%); however, no significant change has occurred since 2015 (15.1%). In 2016, the prevalence of cigarette smoking was higher among adults who were male, aged 25–64 years, American Indian/Alaska Native or multiracial, had a General Education Development (GED) certificate, lived below the federal poverty level, lived in the Midwest or South, were uninsured or insured through Medicaid, had a disability/limitation, were lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB), or had serious psychological distress. During 2005–2016, the percentage of ever smokers who quit smoking increased from 50.8% to 59.0%. Proven population-based interventions are critical to reducing the health and economic burden of smoking-related diseases among U.S. adults, particularly among subpopulations with the highest smoking prevalences.

2NHIS is an annual, nationally representative in-person survey of the noninstitutionalized U.S. civilian population. The NHIS core questionnaire is administered to a randomly selected adult in the household (the sample adult). In 2016, the NHIS was administered to 33,028 adults aged ≥18 years; the response rate was 54.3%. Current cigarette smokers were respondents who reported having smoked ≥100 cigarettes during their lifetime and were smoking every day or some days at the time of interview. Former smokers were respondents who reported having smoked ≥100 cigarettes during their lifetime but were not smoking at the time of interview. The mean number of cigarettes smoked per day was calculated among daily smokers. Quit ratios were defined as the ratio of former smokers to ever smokers (i.e., persons who had smoked ≥100 cigarettes during their lifetime).

3Data were weighted to adjust for differences in the probability of selection and nonresponse and to provide nationally representative estimates. Current smoking was assessed overall and by sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, poverty status,† U.S. Census region,§ health insurance coverage at the time of survey,¶ disability/limitation status,** sexual orientation,†† and presence or absence of serious psychological distress.§§ Differences between groups were assessed using a Wald F test, with statistical significance defined as p<0.05. Population counts were estimated from extrapolated probability weights, rounded down to the nearest 10,000 persons. Quit ratios were calculated overall and by age group. Logistic regression was used to assess overall trends in prevalence, cigarettes smoked per day, and quit ratios during 2005–2016, controlling for sex, age, and race/ethnicity. T-tests were performed to examine differences between 2015 and 2016.

4In 2016, 15.5% (37.8 million) of U.S. adults were current cigarette smokers (Table). Overall, smoking prevalence did not change significantly from 2015 (15.1%) to 2016 (15.5%). Current cigarette smoking prevalence was higher among males (17.5%) than among females (13.5%). By age group, prevalence was higher among adults aged 25–44 years (17.6%) and 45–64 years (18.0%) than among those aged 18–24 years (13.1%) or ≥65 years (8.8%). Prevalence was highest among American Indian/Alaska Natives (31.8%) and lowest among non-Hispanic Asians (9.0%). Among adults aged ≥25 years, prevalence was highest among persons with a GED (40.6%) and lowest among those with a graduate degree (4.5%). Prevalence was higher among persons living below the poverty level (25.3%) than those at or above this level (14.3%). By region, prevalence was higher in the Midwest (18.5%) and South (16.9%) than the West (12.3%) or Northeast (13.3%). By insurance status, prevalence was higher among Medicaid enrollees (25.3%) and uninsured adults (28.4%) than among those covered by private insurance (11.8%), Medicare only (10.2%), or other public insurance (19.8%). Prevalence was higher among adults with a disability/limitation (21.2%) than among those with no disability/limitation (14.4%). Prevalence was higher among LGB adults (20.5%) than among heterosexual adults (15.3%) and among adults with serious psychological distress (35.8%) than among those without serious psychological distress (14.7%).

5Among current smokers, the proportion of daily smokers was 76.1% in 2016, which declined from 2005 (80.8%, p-value for trend <0.05) (data not shown). Whereas mean number of cigarettes smoked per day declined from 2005 (16.7) to 2016 (14.1) among daily smokers (p-value for trend <0.05), no change occurred between 2015 (14.2) and 2016 (14.1) (data not shown). During 2005–2016, increases occurred in the proportion of daily smokers who smoked 1–9 cigarettes per day (from 16.4% to 25.0%) or 10–19 (from 36.0% to 39.0%) cigarettes per day (Figure 1). At the same time, decreases occurred in the proportion of daily smokers who smoked 20–29 (from 34.9% to 28.4%) or ≥30 (from 12.7% to 7.5%) cigarettes per day during 2005–2016 (p-value for trend <0.05). No significant changes in any category of number of cigarettes smoked per day occurred during 2015–2016.

6The overall quit ratio increased from 50.8% in 2005 to 59.0% in 2016 (p<0.05). During 2005–2016, the largest increase in quit ratios occurred among adults aged 25–44 years (from 37.0% to 48.9% [p<0.05]) (Figure 2).

7During 2005–2016, the prevalence of cigarette smoking among U.S. adults declined from 20.9% to 15.5%, and the proportion of ever smokers who had quit increased. However, during 2015–2016, cigarette smoking prevalence did not change significantly. In 2016, 37.8 million U.S. adults were current cigarette smokers, and marked sociodemographic differences in smoking prevalence persist. Proven population-based interventions, including tobacco price increases, comprehensive smoke-free laws, anti-tobacco mass media campaigns, and barrier-free access to tobacco cessation counseling and medications, are critical to reduce cigarette smoking and smoking-related disease and death among U.S. adults, particularly among subpopulations with the highest prevalences.

8The observed disparities in smoking prevalence are likely attributable to multiple factors. Racial or ethnic differences might be partly explained by sociocultural influences and norms related to the acceptability of tobacco use and variations in exposure to tobacco marketing, whereas disparities by education might be partly attributable to variations in understanding of the range of health hazards caused by smoking. Variations in access to evidence-based tobacco cessation treatments through insurance coverage might partially explain the differences observed across insurance types. Smoking prevalence was higher among persons with severe psychological distress, potentially because of higher levels of addiction and dependence, lack of financial resources, less access to cessation treatments, and stressful living conditions among these persons. Assessing the smoking status of all patients served in psychiatric inpatient and outpatient settings, integrating evidence-based cessation interventions into mental health treatment plans, and implementing tobacco-free campus policies in mental health care facilities could help reduce smoking in this population.

9During 2005–2016, an increasing proportion of adults who ever smoked cigarettes had quit smoking. However, following consecutive significant annual declines during 2013–2014 and 2014–2015, no change in smoking prevalence was observed between 2015 and 2016. Moreover, longstanding declines in the proportion of daily smokers who smoked ≥20 cigarettes per day have stalled in recent years. These findings could be the result of multiple factors, including slowed progress in the adoption of proven interventions, or increased nicotine dependence from the concurrent use of other tobacco products. These findings underscore the importance of enhanced and sustained implementation of proven population-level interventions to continue previously observed annual declines in adult cigarette smoking.

10The findings in this report are subject to at least five limitations. First, smoking status was self-reported and not validated by biochemical testing; however, self-reported smoking status is correlated with serum cotinine levels. Second, because NHIS does not include institutionalized populations and persons in the military, results are not generalizable to these groups. Third, the NHIS response rate of 54.3% might have resulted in nonresponse bias, even after adjustment for nonresponse. Fourth, the assessment of broad racial/ethnic populations (e.g., Asians and Hispanics) can mask differences in smoking prevalence among subgroups of these populations.¶¶ Finally, these estimates might differ from those reported from other surveys. These differences can be partially explained by varying survey methodologies and definitions of current smoking; however, trends in prevalence are comparable across surveys.

11Sustained implementation of comprehensive state tobacco control programs can accelerate progress toward reducing adult smoking prevalence. Targeted interventions are warranted to reach subpopulations with the highest incidence of use, and can result in substantial reductions in tobacco-related disease and death and billions of dollars in savings from averted medical costs.

12The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that the burden of death and disease from tobacco use in the United States is overwhelmingly caused by cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products. Cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. adults, and about 480,000 deaths per year are caused by cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.

13The proportion of U.S. adults who smoke cigarettes declined from 20.9% in 2005 (45.1 million smokers) to 15.5% in 2016 (37.8 million smokers), but cigarette smoking prevalence did not change significantly during 2015–2016. Sociodemographic disparities in cigarette smoking persist. During 2005–2016, increases occurred in the proportion of adult ever smokers who quit smoking (50.8% to 59.0%).

14Proven population-based interventions, including tobacco price increases, comprehensive smoke-free laws, high-impact anti-tobacco media campaigns, and barrier-free access to tobacco cessation counseling and medications, are critical to reducing cigarette smoking and smoking-related disease and death among U.S. adults, particularly among subpopulations with the highest smoking prevalence.