WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - One in five adults are using a tobacco product in the United States, findings from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study show.
To assess recent national estimates of tobacco product use among U.S. adults 18 years or older, CDC analyzed data from the 2019 National Health Interview Survey. It measured use of five tobacco products: cigarettes, cigars, pipes, e-cigarettes, and smokeless tobacco.
80 percent of those who were surveyed said they use combustible products such as cigarettes. Currently, most tobacco-related death and disease in the United States are primarily caused by cigarettes and other combustible products.
'The battle against tobacco use in this country is far from over,' said CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, MD. 'Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States.'
The study found that an estimated 50.6 million, or 20.8 percent U.S. adults used a tobacco product in 2019.
By subpopulation groups, use of any tobacco product was highest among adults in the 25-44 age group - 25.3 percent.
29.3 percent of the smokers were Non-Hispanic American Indians or Alaska Natives.
Lesbian, gay, or bisexual adults make up 29.9 percent of the smokers in the country.
The implementation of comprehensive, evidence-based, population-level interventions, in coordination with regulation of tobacco products, can reduce the burden of tobacco-related disease and death in the United States, says the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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