Polytobacco use of cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, and snuff among US adults

Abstract

Introduction: Tobacco use prevalence has been commonly estimated on a product by productbasis and the extent of polytobacco use among current users of each tobacco product is not wellunderstood. This study aimed to examine the prevalence, trends, and correlates of polytobaccouse among current users of cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, and snuff in US adults aged =18.Methods: We used pooled data from the 1998, 2000, 2005, and 2010 Cancer Control Supplementsof the National Health Interview Survey (N = 123 399 adults). Multivariate logistic regression modelswere estimated to determine significant factors associated with polytobacco use.Results: In 2010, the prevalence of polytobacco use was 8.6% among current cigarette smokers,50.3% among current cigar users, 54.8% among current chewing tobacco users, and 42.5% amongcurrent snuff users. After controlling for other covariates, gender and race/ethnicity did not showconsistent associations with poly-use across these four groups of current tobacco users; however,a positive association of young adulthood, less than high school education, and binge drinkingwith poly-use was consistently found among all these groups.Conclusions: Polytobacco use is extremely popular among current users of non-cigarette tobaccoproducts. Polytobacco use patterns differ across sociodemographic subpopulations, and the genderand racial/ethnic profiles in poly-users vary across different groups of current tobacco users.Tobacco control strategies need to consider the interrelationships in the use of different tobaccoproducts and the diverse profiles of poly-users in order to develop tailored tobacco prevention andintervention policies to further reduce the burden of tobacco use.