This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (160)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Pediatrics  • Adolescent Medicine  • Tobacco  • Public Health, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic

Results of a National Survey

Nancy A. Rigotti, MD; Jae Eun Lee, DrPH; Henry Wechsler, PhD

JAMA. 2000;284:699-705.

Context  Adults aged 18 to 24 years, many of whom are in college, represent the youngest legal targets for tobacco industry marketing. Cigarette smoking has been described among college students, but little is known about noncigarette tobacco use by college students or cigar use by adults of any age.

Objectives  To assess the prevalence of all forms of tobacco use (cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and smokeless tobacco) among US college students and to identify student- and college-level factors associated with use of each product.

Design  The Harvard College Alcohol Survey, a self-administered survey conducted in 1999.

Setting  One hundred nineteen nationally representative US 4-year colleges.

Subjects  A total of 14,138 randomly selected students (60% response rate).

Main Outcome Measures  Self-report of current (in the past 30 days), past-year, and lifetime use of cigarettes, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco, and all tobacco products.

Results  Nearly half (45.7%) of respondents had used a tobacco product in the past year and one third (32.9%) currently used tobacco. Cigarettes accounted for most of the tobacco use (28.5% current prevalence), but cigar use was also substantial (37.1% lifetime prevalence, 23.0% past-year prevalence, and 8.5% current prevalence) and combinations of the 2 were common. Total tobacco use was higher in men than in women (37.9% vs 29.7%; P<.001), despite nearly identical current cigarette smoking rates between the sexes (28.5% for women vs 28.4% for men), because of greater use of cigars (current prevalence, 15.7% vs 3.9%; P<.001) and smokeless tobacco (current prevalence, 8.7% vs 0.4%; P<.001) by men. Tobacco use was significantly higher among white students (P<.001), users of other substances (alcohol and marijuana) (P<.001), and students whose priorities were social rather than educational or athletic (P<.05). Among students who had used both cigars and cigarettes, only 8.9% smoked cigars at an earlier age than they had smoked cigarettes.

Conclusion  Our study indicates that tobacco use is common among college students and is not limited to cigarettes. College appears to be a time when many students are trying a range of tobacco products and are in danger of developing lifelong nicotine dependence. National efforts to monitor and reduce tobacco use of all types should expand to focus on college students and other young adults.

Author Affiliations: Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School (Dr Rigotti), and Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public Health (Drs Wechsler and Lee), Boston, Mass.

RELATED ARTICLE

August 9, 2000
JAMA. 2000;284(6):777-778.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

The Role of Ambivalence in College Nonsmokers' Information Seeking and Information Processing
Xiaoquan Zhao and Xiaomei Cai
Communication Research 2008;35:298-318.
ABSTRACT  

Coverage Bias in Traditional Telephone Surveys of Low-Income and Young Adults
Blumberg and Luke
Public Opin Q 2007;0:nfm047v1-nfm047.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Some Go Without a Cigarette: Characteristics of Cannabis Users Who Have Never Smoked Tobacco
Suris et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2007;161:1042-1047.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Determinants of smoking among adolescents in the Southern Cape-Karoo region, South Africa
Panday et al.
HEALTH PROMOT INT 2007;22:207-217.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

High School Seniors' Smoking Initiation and Progression 1 Year After Graduation
Tercyak et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2007;97:1397-1398.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Effect of Support for Action Against the Tobacco Industry on Smoking Among Young Adults
Ling et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2007;97:1449-1456.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Closer Look at Smoking Among Young Adults: Where Tobacco Control Should Focus Its Attention
Green et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2007;97:1427-1433.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Reconsidering stress and smoking: a qualitative study among college students
Nichter et al.
Tobacco Control 2007;16:211-214.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Predictors of Participation in a Smoking Cessation Program among Young Adult Smokers
Audrain-McGovern et al.
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2007;16:617-619.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Gendered Dimensions of Smoking Among College Students
Nichter et al.
Journal of Adolescent Research 2006;21:215-243.
ABSTRACT  

Youth smoking risk and community patterns of alcohol availability and control: a national multilevel study
Weitzman et al.
J. Epidemiol. Community Health 2005;59:1065-1071.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Smoking and Depressive Symptoms in a College Population
Lee Ridner et al.
The Journal of School Nursing 2005;21:229-235.
ABSTRACT  

How effective are tobacco industry bar and club marketing efforts in reaching young adults?
Gilpin et al.
Tobacco Control 2005;14:186-192.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Perceived Racial/Ethnic Harassment and Tobacco Use Among African American Young Adults
Bennett et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2005;95:238-240.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

US College Students' Exposure to Tobacco Promotions: Prevalence and Association With Tobacco Use
Rigotti et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2005;95:138-144.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Tobacco smoking using a waterpipe: a re-emerging strain in a global epidemic
Maziak et al.
Tobacco Control 2004;13:327-333.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Social Smoking Among US College Students
Moran et al.
Pediatrics 2004;114:1028-1034.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Smoking, social class, and gender: what can public health learn from the tobacco industry about disparities in smoking?
Barbeau et al.
Tobacco Control 2004;13:115-120.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Adolescent and young adult tobacco prevention and cessation: current status and future directions
Backinger et al.
Tobacco Control 2003;12:iv46-53.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Smoking Progression and Physical Activity
Audrain-McGovern et al.
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2003;12:1121-1129.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Students' opinion of tobacco control policies recommended for US colleges: a national survey
Rigotti et al.
Tobacco Control 2003;12:251-256.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Deposition of Cigar Smoke Particles in the Lung: Evaluation with Ventilation Scan Using 99mTc-Labeled Sulfur Colloid Particles
McDonald et al.
JNM 2002;43:1591-1595.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Effective Tobacco Dependence Treatment
Fiore et al.
JAMA 2002;288:1768-1771.
FULL TEXT  

Young adults' opinions of Philip Morris and its television advertising
Henriksen and Fortmann
Tobacco Control 2002;11:236-240.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Tobacco use by Massachusetts public college students: long term effect of the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program
Rigotti et al.
Tobacco Control 2002;11:ii20-24.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT