Disparities in tobacco use

The Georgia Department Of Community Health
Fact Sheet

Disparities in Tobacco Use

"If disparity elimination is to occur, then the critical focus of the interventions must be the community, with sufficient attention provided to groups, strata, and individuals."--Robert G. Robinson, DrPH1
Age Group

The overall smoking prevalence is highest among adults age 25-34 years (25%; 400,000)3
Females age 18-24 and 25-34 years are more likely to smoke than females in other age groups (Figure 1)
The smoking prevalence is consistently high for males age 25-64 years (Figure 1)

Race/Ethnicity

The smoking prevalence is highest among
American Indians/Alaskan Natives at 31% (30,000), followed by non-Hispanic (NH) whites at 20% (900,000) (Figure 2) The smoking prevalence is highest among
NH white adults age 18-24 (28%; 100,000) and 25-34 (28%; 235,000) years (Figure 3) The smoking prevalence is highest among
NH black adults age 45-54 (23%; 90,000) and 55-64 (23%; 50,000) years (Figure 3)

Health Coverage Status

Male and female smokers are significantly less likely to have health coverage than nonsmokers (Figure 4)
Almost half of NH white smokers do not have health coverage (46%; 250,000)3

Income Level

Adults with an annual household income of less than $15,000 have the highest smoking prevalence at 31% (160,000)3
Males with an annual income less than $15,000 (43%; 80,000) are more likely to smoke than males who have a higher income (Figure 5)
2 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Ga 30303 www.dch.georgia.gov

February 2010

Disparities in Tobacco Use
Education Level Smoking prevalence decreases as education level increases (Figure 6) Adult males (44%; 160,000) and females (32%; 120,000) with less than a high school level education are significantly more likely to smoke than adults with a high school diploma/GED or above (Figure 6)
Cardiovascular Health Heart attack is the most common form of cardiovascular disease among male (28%; 40,000) and female (19%; 20,000) smokers (Figure 7) NH black smokers are more likely to have suffered from cardiovascular disease (heart attack, angina/coronary heart disease, and stroke) than NH white smokers (Figure 8)

Disparities in Tobacco Use
Percent of Adults Who Smoke Cigarettes by Health District, Georgia, 2004-2007

Smoking prevalence among adults by public health district, Georgia, 2004-2007

Public Health District
1-1 Northwest (Rome)* 1-2 North Georgia (Dalton) 2-0 North (Gainesville) 3-1 Cobb-Douglas 3-2 Fulton 3-3 Clayton (Morrow) 3-4 East Metro (Lawrenceville) 3-5 DeKalb 4-0 LaGrange 5-1 South Central (Dublin) 5-2 North Central (Macon)* 6-0 East Central (Augusta) 7-0 West Central (Columbus) 8-1 South (Valdosta)* 8-2 Southwest (Albany) 9-1 Coastal (Savannah)* 9-2 Southeast (Waycross)* 10-0 Northeast (Athens) Georgia

Smoking Prevalence (%)
27% 24% 22% 15% 15% 23% 16% 14% 20% 22% 25% 23% 23% 25% 22% 25% 26% 20% 20%

Estimated Number of Adult Smokers
96,000 56,000 69,000 74,000 90,000 37,000 82,000 66,000 85,000 20,000 81,000 65,000 54,000 39,000 51,000 82,000 57,000 39,000 1,400,000

* Significantly above the state smoking prevalence, based on 95% confidence intervals
Data source: 2004-2007 Georgia Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Data

Disparities in Tobacco Use
Youth
Use of smokeless tobacco (14%; 32,000) and cigars/cigarillos (18%; 40,000) is significantly higher among male high school students than female students (Figure 9)
NH white (24%; 46,000) high school students are significantly more likely to smoke cigarettes than NH black (9%; 15,000) and Hispanic (16%; 7,000) students (Figure 10)
NH white (13%; 28,000) high school students are significantly more likely to use smokeless tobacco than NH black (3%; 5,000) and Hispanic (5%; 2,000) students (Figure 10)
Cigar/cigarillos are the most common form of tobacco used by NH black high school students (13%; 23,000) (Figure 10)
The prevalence of cigarette (16%; 7,000) and cigar/cigarillo (15%; 7,000) use among Hispanic high school students is almost the same (Figure 10)
Over half of NH white high school students (56%; 137,000) were exposed to secondhand smoke in a room or car within the past seven days (Figure 11)
High school students who were exposed to secondhand smoke in the past seven days are more likely to have been diagnosed with asthma (27%; 66,000) compared to those who were not exposed to secondhand smoke (24%; 48,000)5
Description of Terms 1. Current smoker (Adult): Adult who has smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and are currently smoking 2. Current smoker (Youth): Youth who has smoked at least one cigarette in the past 30 days 3. Smokeless Tobacco (SLT): Includes chewing tobacco, snuff, or dip 4. Cigarillos: Little cigars
Data sources: 1. Robinson, R. G. (2005). Community development model for public health applications: Overview of a model to eliminate population disparities. Health Promotion Practice, 6(3), 338-346. 2. 2006 and 2007 Georgia Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Data 3. 2008 Georgia Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Data 4. 2009 Georgia Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) Data 5. 2009 Georgia Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS) Data
Date updated: February 2010
Visit http://www.health.state.ga.us/epi/cdiee/tobaccouse.asp for more information about tobacco use in Georgia Visit http://health.state.ga.us/programs/tobacco/index.asp for more information about the Georgia Tobacco Use Prevention Program