Diabetes Care, Vol 18, Issue 5 694-697, Copyright © 1995 by American Diabetes Association
Trends in cigarette smoking and physicians' advice to quit smoking among people with diabetes in the U.S
AM Malarcher, ES Ford, DE Nelson, JH Chrismon, P Mowery, RK Merritt and WH Herman
Epidemiology and Statistics Branch, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341-3714, USA.
OBJECTIVE--This study describes changes in the distribution of cigarette
smoking and in physicians' advice to quit smoking among the U.S. population
with and without diabetes from the mid-1970s to 1990. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
METHODS--Data on self-reported smoking status, physicians' advice to quit
smoking, history of diabetes, and demographic characteristics were obtained
from the 1974, 1985, and 1990 National Health Interview Surveys. We
examined the age-adjusted prevalence of smoking and physicians' advice to
quit smoking by race, sex, and educational level among individuals with
diabetes and those without diabetes. RESULTS--The prevalence of smoking
decreased 9.8 percentage points from 1974 to 1990 among individuals with
diabetes (from 35.6 to 25.8%, P < 0.01) and 11.7 percentage points among
those without diabetes (from 37.3 to 25.6%, P < 0.01). For all years,
younger individuals, men, and people with less than a high school education
were more likely to smoke, regardless of diabetes status. Among individuals
who had ever smoked, those with diabetes were more likely to have received
advice to quit than those without diabetes; from 1974 to 1990, the
percentage advised to quit smoking by a physician increased from 35.1 to
58.4% for smokers with diabetes and from 26.8 to 46.0% for smokers without
diabetes. CONCLUSIONS--Despite decreases in smoking prevalence over time,
people with diabetes are still as likely to smoke as those without
diabetes. More than 40% of smokers with diabetes currently report never
having received advice from a physician to quit smoking. Health care
providers should increase their efforts to reduce smoking among people with
diabetes.