Trends in smoking among adults from 1980 to 2009: The Minnesota heart survey

Objectives. We examined population-based smoking trends in Minnesota between 1980 and 2009. Methods. The Minnesota Heart Survey (MHS) is a population-based, serial, cross-sectional study of cardiovascular risk factor trends among Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan residents. The MHS recently completed its sixth survey (1980-1982 [n=3799], 1985-1987 [n=4641], 1990-1992 [n=5159], 1995-1997 [n=6690], 2000-2002 [n=3281], and 2007-2009 [n=3179]). We used MHS data to examine smoking trends among adults aged 25 to 74 years by means of ageadjusted generalized linear mixed models. Results. Between 1980 and 2009, the prevalence of current smoking decreased from 32.8% to 15.5% for men and from 32.7% to 12.2% for women (P<.001 for each). Greater decreases occurred among those with higher income and those with more education. Among currently smoking men, the number of cigarettes smoked per day decreased from 26.0 in the 1980-1982 survey to 16.0 in the 2007-2009 survey (P<.001). Similar trends were observed among women. Conclusions. Although the prevalence of smoking and cigarette consumption decreased from the 1980-1982 period to the 2007-2009 period, interventions specifically designed for those of lower socioeconomic status are needed.