Intermittent and light daily smoking across racial/ethnic groups in the United States

Limited research exists examining the prevalence of intermittent (nondaily) and light daily (1-5 cigarettes/day) smoking across racial/ethnic groups in the United States using nationally representative data. These analyses would be informative in guiding targeted cessation strategies.

Using logistic regression models controlling for age, gender, and education, we examined the prevalence of intermittent and light daily consumption among current smokers across racial/ethnic groups from the 2003 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. We also examined the association of these demographic factors with consumption within each racial/ethnic group separately.

Black (odds ratio [OR] = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.59-2.07), Asian/Pacific Islander (OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.29-2.04), and Hispanic/Latino (OR = 3.2, 95% CI = 2.75-3.74) smokers were more likely to smoke intermittently compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Black (OR = 2.69, 95% CI = 2.27-3.18), Asian/Pacific Islander (OR = 2.99, 95% CI = 2.13-4.19), and Hispanic/Latino (OR = 4.64, 95% CI = 3.85-5.58) smokers also were more likely to have light daily consumption compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Hispanic/Latino intermittent smokers smoked fewer days per month and fewer cigarettes per day compared with non-Hispanic White smokers. We found no significant gender differences across racial/ethnic groups in intermittent smoking, but male smokers were significantly less likely to have light daily consumption for all racial/ethnic groups.

These results have implications for the understanding of the tobacco dependence, the development of prevention and cessation strategies, and the applicability of harm-reduction techniques for racial/ethnic minorities.