Tobacco use Prevalence in the Military Health System: A Retrospective Study

Tobacco use is prevalent and has traditionally been higher in the U.S. Military population than in the civilian population, but studies are limited. The goal of this study was to evaluate tobacco use and tobacco cessation counseling within the US Military health system (MHS).

This was a retrospective study assessing tobacco use and cessation counseling rates within the MHS from July 2016 to March 2022. Data for military tobacco use were obtained from the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Dashboard. US civilian tobacco rates were obtained from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Patients 18+ currently enrolled in direct care in military treatment facilities (MTFs) who had at least one direct primary care or well care gynecology encounter during the measurement years. Current tobacco use is defined as the presence of one coded indicator which included ICD 10CM codes, MEDCIN (a system of standardized medical terminology) Terms, and Vitals. Tobacco use is defined as the use of any form of tobacco (cigarette, cigar, vaping, or smokeless). The prevalence of tobacco use per month was analyzed from July 2016 through March 2022. After searching specifically for procedure codes for tobacco cessation counseling, a month-to- month trend of the rate of tobacco cessation counseling was also established.

Data from 1.8 million patients were analyzed. Overall tobacco use within the MHS (including military dependents and retirees) decreased 1.68% (29.94 to 28.26%) from 2016 to 2022. Rates decreased by 3.24% (29.94 to 26.70%) from July 2016 to March 2021 before increasing by 1.56% (26.70 to 28.26%) from March 2021 to March 2022. Tobacco cessation counseling declined by 17.4% (28.4 to 11%) from July 2016 to March 2022. In comparison to the civilian population, tobacco use was 15.0% higher in the MHS.

Tobacco use remains common in the United States but is more prevalent in both active duty military and military retirees than civilians. Tobacco cessation counseling within the MHS steadily declined from 2016 to 2022. While there has been an overall reduction in rates of tobacco use in the military population over the last 5 years there was an increase over the last 2 years. Further research is needed to elucidate tobacco use, the effect of tobacco cessation counseling in the military, and the potential role of tobacco cessation medications in reducing tobacco use within the MHS.