Adult tobacco use in Georgia: 2016 data summary

The Georgia Department of Public Health
Adult Tobacco Use in Georgia: 2016 Data Summary
Tobacco use costs Georgia more than 1.8 billion dollars every year1.
Mortality
Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, resulting in approximately 480,000 premature deaths and more than $300 billion in direct health care expenditures and productivity losses each year2. From 2008 to 2013, an estimated annual average of 10,350 deaths, or 17%, of all annual deaths (61,889) among Georgians 35 years and older were attributed to cigarette smoking1. More adult males 35 years and older (6,320) than adult
females 35 years and older (3,962) died from tobaccorelated illnesses every year. Of the smoking attributable deaths among adults aged 35 years and older (Figure 1):
4,492 (44%) deaths were due to cancer 3,077 (30%) deaths were due to respiratory
disease 2,713 (26%) deaths were due to cardiovascular
disease Adult smokers lose an average of 18 years of life
compared to non-smoker adults.
Smoking Behavior
Approximately 1.24 million (17.4%) adult Georgians smoked cigarettes in 2014, which is lower than 2013 (1.3 million; 18.8%) while more Georgians (22.4%; 2014, 20.6%; 2013) were former smokers3.
Current Smokers3 In 2014, more adult males (21.4%; 740,000) than adult
females (13.6%; 510,000) smoked cigarettes. Smoking prevalence was significantly higher among
Georgians ages 25-34 years (23.5%; 292,000) than any other age groups.

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FEBRUARY 2016

Adult Tobacco Use in Georgia: 2016 Data Summary
Non-Hispanic (NH) white adults (19.3%; 785,000) were more likely to smoke than NH black (14.6%; 301,000) and Hispanic (15.6%; 92,000) adults in Georgia.
Cigarette smoking was six times more common among adults without high school education (31.8%; 365,000) than among adults with college education (5.6%; 100,000) (Figure 3).
Smoking prevalence was significantly higher among adults with annual income of $15,000 (33.5%; 275,000) than any other income groups (Figure 4).
Smoking prevalence was about twice as high among adults without health insurance (31.4%; 455,000) than adults with health insurance (15.4%; 682,000).
Unemployed adults were more likely to smoke (22.9%) than adults who were either employed (17.1%) or retired (9.7%).
The North (2-0 Gainesville, 23.9%; 88,000), West Central (7-0 Columbus, 22.8%; 63,000), and Northwest (1-1 Rome, 22.3%; 97,000) Public Health Districts had significantly higher smoking prevalence than the overall state average rate (17.4%; 1.24 million) (Figure 5).
Former Smokers3 More adult males (26.5%; 914,000) than adult females
(18.6%; 690,000) were former smokers. More adults aged 65 years and older were significantly
higher former smokers (40.7%; 491,000) than any other age groups (Figure 6).
Smokeless Tobacco Use3 Smokeless tobacco is known to cause cancer of the oral cavity and pancreas, and should not be considered a safe substitute for smoking cigarettes.
In 2014, 4.7% (340,000) of Georgia adults reported using smokeless tobacco.
More adult males (8.3%; 286,000) than adult females (1.5%; 54,000) used smokeless tobacco.
NH white adults (5.8%; 237,000) were more likely to use smokeless tobacco than NH black (3.6%; 74,000) and Hispanic (2.6%; 15,000) adults in Georgia.
Smokeless tobacco use was about four times more common among adults without high school education (8.8%; 100,000) than among adults with college education (2.1%; 37,000) (Figure 7).

Adult Tobacco Use in Georgia: 2016 Data Summary
The Northeast (10-0 Athens, 9.2%; 28,000), Southeast (9-2 Waycross, 8.1%; 24,000), South (8-1 Valdosta, 7.6%; 14,500), and Coastal (9-1 Savannah, 7.6%; 31,500) Public Health Districts had significantly higher smokeless use prevalence than the overall state average rate (4.7%; 340,000) (Figure 8).
Smoking Cessation3,4 Approximately 65.9% (817,000) of current adult
smokers made a quit attempt in the past year. About the same percentage of males (68.1%; 500,000)
as females (62.8%; 320,000) made a quit attempt in the past year. More individuals with health insurance (68.9%; 470,000) than those without health insurance (63.7%; 290,000) made a quit attempt in the past year. More NH black adults (79.4%; 240,000) made a quit attempt in the past year compared to NH white adults (60.5%; 475,000) (Figure 9). Approximately 645,000 (49%) adult smokers who visited their health care provider in the past year indicated their health care provider advised them not to smoke. Among adult smokers who were advised by their health care provider to stop smoking:
172,000 (48%) were given a prescription for medication to help them quit
167,000 (47%) were advised to participate in a telephone quitline, smoking cessation class or program, or one-on-one counseling.
Secondhand Smoke Exposure3,4 Approximately, 630,000 (8.3%) adults in Georgia have
asthma. Among those with asthma, 152,000 (25.0%) adults are current smokers. About 8.2% (1 million) of adults in Georgia were exposed to secondhand smoke at home, 16.2% (2 million) in a vehicle, 17.1% (1.4 million) at work, 30.2% (3.6 million) in a public place, and 43.0% (5.3 million) were exposed at any place secondhand smoke on one or more days in the past seven days (Figure 10). About 43.3% (2 million) of males were exposed to secondhand smoke and 42.7% (2.7 million) of females were exposed to secondhand smoke. More NH white adults (45.5%; 3 million) were exposed to secondhand smoke than NH black adults (42.3%; 1.4 million).

Adult Tobacco Use in Georgia: 2016 Data Summary
Among adults, 50.0% (1.3 million) of those with an annual household income of less than $30,000 were exposed to secondhand smoke, 50.8% (1.2 million) with income $30,000-$49,000, 39.8% (700,000) with income $50,000-$69,000, and 37.0% (1.3 million) with income $70,000 and over.
89.2% (930,000) of adult smokers in Georgia and the majority (94.5%; 5.8 million) of adult non-smokers indicated that their worksite does not allow smoking anywhere in the workplace. Females were more likely than males to indicate their worksite does not allow smoking (Figure 11).
More adult non-smokers in Georgia support smoke-free policies in various public places than smokers (Figure 12).
Adult Georgians think breathing smoke from other people's cigarettes or from other tobacco products is either somewhat harmful (27.9%; 2 million) or very harmful (68.6%; 4.7 million).
Georgians (90.8%; 6 million) support adopting a policy, in which, tobacco use, indoor and outdoor public places should be restricted.
Financial Impact1
Smoking results in $3.2 billion in lost productivity costs every year among Georgians 35 years and older.
The average annual smoking-related productivity losses in Georgia during 2008-2013 were estimated at almost $2.1 billion for men and $1.2 billion for women.
Smoking results in the loss of $1.8 billion in healthcare costs every year among Georgians.
Data Sources:
1. Georgia Vital Statistics, 2008-2013; CDC SAMMEC application. 2. Health consequences of smoking--50 years of progress: a report of the
Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2014. Available at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/50-years-ofprogress/full-report.pdf 3. 2013 and 2014 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). 4. 2014 Adult Tobacco Survey (ATS). 5. Chung A, Lavender A, Bayakly R. 2015 Georgia Tobacco Use Surveillance Report. Georgia Department of Public Health, 2015. Available at http://dph.georgia.gov/sites/dph.georgia.gov/files/2015%20Georgia%2 0Tobacco%20Use%20Surveillance%20Report.pdf