The Development of a Summary Measure to Estimate the Relative Burden of Smoking in Wisconsin Counties

The rate of cigarette smoking among US adults has declined over the past 50 years. Yet smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and marked disparities now exist in smoking rates based on education level, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and geographic location. In order to target resources to reduce these disparities, a summary measure comparing the relative burden of smoking among smaller populations is needed.

To create a single summary measure that assesses the relative health burden from smoking in Wisconsin counties using age-adjusted mortality rates for smoking-attributable diseases, current adult smoking prevalence, and the current rate of mothers who smoked during pregnancy.

Rates varied significantly between counties for smoking-attributable deaths (2-fold), adult smoking prevalence (5-fold), and smoking in pregnancy (5-fold). The summary measure of relative smoking burden was highest in rural counties and in counties with less education, higher rates of poverty, and more veterans. The ranking of a county's smoking burden was highly correlated with its overall health ranking from the County Health Rankings.

The burden from smoking varied markedly across Wisconsin and was highest in the least advantaged counties in the state. Additional public health efforts must be directed toward the counties with the greater relative smoking burden in order to reduce these disparities.