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Smoking rate trends in U.S. occupational groups: the 1987 to 2004 National Health Interview Survey.

Lee DJ, Fleming LE, Arheart KL, LeBlanc WG, Caban AJ, Chung-Bridges K, Christ SL, McCollister KE, Pitman T

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33101, USA. dlee@med.miami.edu

OBJECTIVE: It is unknown if the gap in smoking rates observed between United States blue- and white-collar workers over the past four decades has continued into the new millennium. METHODS: The National Health Interview Survey is a nationally representative survey of the US civilian population. Smoking and current occupational status were assessed over survey periods 1987 to 1994 and 1997 to 2004 (n= 298,042). RESULTS: There were significant annual reductions in smoking rates for all adult US workers in both survey periods. Several blue-collar groups had greater annual smoking rate reductions in the most recent survey period relative to the earlier survey period. However, the majority of blue-collar worker groups had pooled 1997 to 2004 smoking rates in excess of the 24.5% smoking prevalence noted for all workers. CONCLUSION: Development of effective smoking prevention strategies specifically targeting blue-collar groups is warranted.

Published 11 January 2007 in J Occup Environ Med, 49(1): 75-81.
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