Any Tobacco Use in 13 States—Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2008

August 6, 2010 / Vol. 59 / No. 30

Use of any tobacco ranged from 18.4% in New Jersey to 35.0% in West Virginia.
Use of any tobacco was higher among non-Hispanic whites (26.2%) and non-Hispanic blacks (24.4%) than among Hispanics (19.7%).
Use of any tobacco was higher among members of an unmarried couple (36.3%), those who were single (30.3%), and those who were widowed or divorced (29.1%) than among married persons (21.2%).
Use of any tobacco was higher among those who had less than a high school education (33.1%) than those with at least some college education (20.5%).

Polytobacco use ranged from 1.0% in New Jersey to 3.7% in West Virginia.
Polytobacco use was more likely among persons with household incomes less than $35,000 a year (9.8%), young adults between 18 and 24 years of age (5.7%), single adults (4.8%), men (4.4%), persons with less than a high school education (3.6%), and those with a high school diploma and GED (3.6%).

The results in this report highlight the need for further incorporating and implementing strategies that address all forms of tobacco use in state and national tobacco prevention and cessation efforts (i.e., increased excise taxes on all tobacco products, strengthening smoke free policies, and counter-marketing messages).

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a state-based telephone survey of noninstitutionalized civilian adults of at least 18 years of age in all states, Washington D.C., and U.S. territories.
In 2008, 13 states implemented an optional BRFSS module to collect information on "any" tobacco use (i.e., current use of any tobacco product) and "polytobacco" use (i.e., current use of cigarettes and another form of tobacco).
Data were collected from Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Combined data across the 13 states were used to examine how tobacco use measures were distributed across groups (e.g., men/women, age groups, income level, education level).