US Cigarette Smoking Disparities by Race and Ethnicity-Keep Going and Going!

Introduction Although current cigarette smoking among US adults decreased from 42.4% in 1965 to 12.5% in 2020, prevalence is higher among certain racial and ethnic groups, including non-Hispanic Americ- an Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) adults.Methods We examined trends in current cigarette smoking prevalence, pop- ulation estimates, and relative disparity among US adults (aged >= 18 y) between 2011 and 2020 by using data from the National Health Interview Survey. SAS-callable SUDAAN was used to ob- tain prevalence and population estimates, and relative disparity was calculated on the basis of findings in the literature. Trends were significant at P <.05.Results From 2011 to 2020, linear decreases in prevalence and population estimates were observed for non-Hispanic White (20.6% to 13.3%; 32.1 million to 20.7 million), non-Hispanic Black (19.4% to 14.4%; 5.1 million to 4.0 million), and Hispanic (12.9% to 8.0%; 4.2 million to 3.3 million) adults. For non-Hispanic AIAN adults, prevalence remained around 27%, and a linear increase in the population estimate was observed from 400,000 to 510,000. Relative disparity did not change across racial and ethnic categor- ies.Conclusion Linear decreases have occurred between 2011 and 2020 for non- Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic adults who smoke, but the number of non-Hispanic AIAN adults who cur- rently smoke has increased by 110,000, and relative disparities persist. To reduce racial and ethnic disparities in smoking, under- standing how factors at multiple socioecologic levels impact smoking and helping to inform paths to equitable reach and imple- mentation of tobacco control interventions for all population groups are needed.