Tobacco use among high school youth in New York State

Social and environmental constructs affect youth initiation to smoking which increases the risk for smoking into adulthood. Health consequences of tobacco use are preventable, severe, and lifelong. This project analyzed trends for youth tobacco use indicators.  From 2000-2012, the New York Youth Tobacco Survey has been conducted biennially with school classrooms selected randomly.  Students were selected using a multistage cluster design.  Weighting adjusted for non-response and probability of selection. SAS was used to produce estimates and trends. All reported trends are significant at p<.05. Over the study period, current cigarette use decreased from 27.1% to 11.9%, but openness to cigarette smoking remains high despite a decrease from 58.3% to 39.9%.  Progress towards New York’s Prevention Agenda goal is shown by the decrease in any tobacco use from 32.5% to 21.8%.  Comparatively, use of other tobacco products increased from 14.0% to 16.4%.  Internet pro-tobacco marketing increased from 57.5% to 79.4%, and student exposure to retail or Internet pro-tobacco marketing only decreased from 94.0% to 93.6%. Monitoring other tobacco product use, including emerging products, is recommended to respond to current trends. Developing a measure of concurrent tobacco product use is prudent as poly-tobacco use increased nicotine dependence in other studies. E-cigarettes are largely marketed online and youth’s high exposure to Internet tobacco advertising merits monitoring future use.  Continued surveillance is recommended for pro-tobacco advertisements considering the prevalence of youth exposure.  My role was to update statistical analysis of youth tobacco use indicators and develop a trend report for years 2000 through 2012.