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Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWRs)

Cigarette Smoking Among Adults—United States, 2006

November 9, 2007 / Vol. 56 / No. 44

MMWR Highlights

• Approximately 20.8% of adults in the United States (45.3 million) were current cigarette smokers in 2006.
• This figure has not changed significantly since 2004, suggesting a stall in the previous 7-year (1997–2004) decline in cigarette smoking among adults.
• Of these, 80.1% (36.3 million) smoked every day, and 19.9% (9 million) smoked some days.
• Among current cigarette smokers, an estimated 44.2% had stopped smoking for at least one day during the preceding 12 months because they were trying to quit.
• Of the estimated 91 million people who had smoked at least 100 cigarettes during their lifetimes, 50.2% (45.7 million) had quit smoking at the time of the interview.
• Even after being diagnosed with a smoking-related chronic disease, this group currently smokes at a rate higher than persons with other chronic diseases or persons with no chronic disease.
• Nearly half (49.1%) of U.S. adults with emphysema and 41.1% of those with chronic bronchitis were current smokers.
• With the exception of persons who had a stroke, persons with any smoking-related chronic disease were significantly more likely to have smoked than those with other chronic diseases (53.5%) or no chronic disease (64.3%).
• Persons with lung cancer (17.9%) and emphysema (22.3%) were more likely to have been smokers.
• Smoking prevalence was higher among men (23.9%) than women (18.0%).
• Asians had the lowest smoking prevalence (10.4%) among all racial/ethnic groups.
• Hispanics also had a significantly lower prevalence of smoking (15.2%) than American Indians/Alaska Natives (32.4%), non-Hispanic blacks (23.0%), and non-Hispanic whites (21.9%).
• Smoking prevalence was highest among adults who had earned a General Educational Development diploma (46.0%) and those with 9–11 years of education (35.4%).
• Adults aged 18–24 years and 25–44 years had a higher prevalence of smoking (23.9% and 23.5%, respectively) than other age groups.
• The prevalence of current smoking was higher among adults living below the federal poverty level (30.6%) than among those at or above the poverty level (20.4%).

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