141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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A closer look at smoking behavior among young US workers


Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Taghrid Asfar, MD, MSPH, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
Alberto Caban-Martinez, PhD, DO, MPH, CPH, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
William G. Le Blanc, PhD, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
Manuel A. Ocasio, MSPH, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
Lora E. Fleming, MD, PhD, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL
David Lee, PhD, Epidemiology & Public Health, University of Miami, Miami, FL
Background: There are approximately 17.5 million young workers in the US, representing 13% of the workforce. Young adults (18-24 yeas) have the highest smoking prevalence (24.4%) of any age group, and 80% of those who initiate smoking at this age continue to smoke in adulthood. We documented the smoking behavior of young workers by occupation, and identified factors associated with smoking.

Methods: Using pooled data from the nationally representative 2005-2010 National Health Interview Survey, we explored the smoking behavior of young workers aged 18-24 years (n=3,512; representing estimated 16,974,641 workers) by occupation (white-collar, blue-collar, and service) and other factors. Weighted logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of smoking.

Results:

Overall, 24% of young workers reported smoking. Most smokers (70%) were daily smokers. Although 66% of smokers were interested in quitting and 54% tried to quit smoking, almost none reported using medication or formal cessation treatment approaches. Smoking prevalence was 33.8% in blue-collar, 24.7% in service, and 20% in white-collar workers. White-collar workers were less likely to smoke than blue-collar workers (OR=0.69; 95%CI=0.52-0.91). Smoking prevalence was similar among males and females. Hispanics and Blacks were less likely to smoke than non-Hispanic Whites (0.29; 0.21-0.39; 0.37 0.25-0.53), respectively. Those with <12 years education (3.72; 2.62-5.302) and without health insurance (1.61; 1.30-1.99) were more likely to smoke.

Conclusion:

Smoking prevalence is high among young blue-collar workers. Although most smokers were interested in quitting, very few reported seeking specialized smoking cessation treatment. Targeting young workers with smoking cessation interventions is needed.

Learning Areas:

Epidemiology
Occupational health and safety
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe smoking prevalence in young workers by occupation (white-collar, blue-collar, and service). Identify predictors of smoking in young workers. Discuss possible smoking cessation and prevention interventions targeted to young workers to increase their access and awareness to smoking cessation treatment.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I’m a tobacco control researcher with long standing experience in conducting smoking cessation trials. I served as project director on multiple smoking cessation interventions in the US and abroad and published papers on the topic of fielding in smoking cessation interventions in diverse settings.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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