Current Tobacco Smoking, Quit Attempts, and Knowledge About Smoking Risks Among Persons Aged ≥15 Years — Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 28 Countries, 2008–2016

• Published in: MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report 2018-09, Vol.67 (38), p.1072-1076
• Main Authors: Ahluwalia, Indu B., Smith, Tenecia, Arrazola, René A., Palipudi, Krishna M., de Quevedo, Isabel Garcia, Prasad, Vinayak M., Commar, Alison, Schotte, Kerstin, Garwood, Paul David, Armour, Brian S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Coronary heart disease; Full Report; Global Health - statistics & numerical data; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Surveys; Humans; Lung cancer; Prevalence; Risk; Smokers; Smoking - epidemiology; Smoking - psychology; Smoking cessation; Smoking Cessation - statistics & numerical data; Stroke
• ISSN: 0149-2195; 1545-861X
• DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6738a7

Each year, tobacco use causes approximately 7 million deaths worldwide, including approximately 6 million among tobacco users and an estimated 890,000 among nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke (1). Tobacco use is a leading preventable cause of disease globally and has been determined to cause adverse health outcomes such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and multiple types of cancer, including lung cancer (2-4). Approximately 80% of the world's 1.1 billion tobacco smokers reside in low- and middle-income countries (4). Some persons do not fully understand the health risks associated with tobacco smoking (5-9), and studies have indicated that increasing knowledge about the adverse health effects of smoking can contribute to decreases in smoking, increases in cessation attempts, and increases in successful cessation (3,7,10). CDC analyzed 2008-2016 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) data from 28 countries to assess tobacco smoking prevalence, quit attempts, and knowledge about tobacco smoking risks among persons aged ≥15 years. Across countries, the median prevalence of tobacco smoking was 22.5%, and a median of 42.5% of tobacco smokers had made a quit attempt in the preceding 12 months. The median prevalences of knowing that tobacco smoking causes stroke, heart attack, and lung cancer were 73.6%, 83.6%, and 95.2%, respectively. Implementation of proven tobacco control interventions, including strategies that increase knowledge about the health risks posed by tobacco use, might help to reduce tobacco use and tobacco-related disease, including heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer (3-5).