Pipe Smoking in the United States, 1965–1991:Prevalence and Attributable Mortality

doi:10.1006/pmed.1996.9999

Preventive Medicine

Volume 25, Issue 2, April 1996, Pages 91-99

https://doi.org/10.1006/pmed.1996.9999 Get rights and content

Abstract

Background.National pipe-smoking prevalence data have rarely been reported, and mortality associated with pipe smoking has not been estimated.Methods.We analyzed National Health Interview Survey data from 1965, 1966, 1970, 1987, and 1991 to estimate adult pipe-smoking prevalence in the United States. For each of these years, we estimated pipe smoking-attributable mortality from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancers of the oral cavity, larynx, esophagus, and lung.Results.From 1965 to 1991, the prevalence of current pipe smoking for men declined 12.1 percentage points (from 14.1% to 2.0%) while pipe smoking remained very uncommon among women. By 1991, pipe smoking was a behavior found primarily among men age 45 years or older. Most men who smoked pipes also used other tobacco products, especially cigarettes. About 830 deaths (range 720–2,495) in 1965 and 1,095 deaths (range 655–2,820) in 1991 were attributable to pipe smoking.Conclusions.If current trends continue, pipe smoking will become extremely rare in the United States by the year 2000. Reasons for the decline in pipe smoking may include the lack of appeal of pipe smoking to women and adolescents or the increasingly unfavorable image of smoking behavior in general. Prevention and cessation efforts need to be directed against all forms of tobacco, including smokeless tobacco use, cigar smoking, and pipe smoking.

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There are some grounds for optimism given the prospects for control of these cancers. Primary prevention should however focus on the reduction of the main causes, namely, tobacco and alcohol consumption.
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Items assessed demographic characteristics (age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, and marital status); receipt of any past-month tobacco industry promotions; and perceived harm and addictiveness of cigarette smoking.18 Current cigarette smoking and current use of non-cigarette products were operationalized using existing definitions from national surveys,1,19–21 described in the Appendix (available online). Current non-cigarette product users were described in the sample but excluded from analyses of openness to using that product.
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There is substantial openness to trying non-cigarette tobacco products among U.S. young adults. Young adults are an important population to consider for interventions targeting non-cigarette tobacco product use.
Prevalence of alternative forms of tobacco use in a population of young adult military recruits
2008, Addictive Behaviors
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Pipe smoking is the only well-established tobacco product to demonstrate a significant decline in recent years. From 1965 to 1991, the prevalence of pipe smoking in men declined from 14.1% to 2.0% while remaining very uncommon (0.03%) among women (Nelson, Davis, Chrismon, & Giovino, 1996). Although cigars, pipes, and smokeless tobacco have all been commercially produced in the U.S. for many decades, bidis and kreteks are relatively new additions to the available forms of tobacco.
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The Tobacco Epidemic in the United States
2007, American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Citation Excerpt :
Heavy cigar smokers and those who inhale deeply are at increased risk of coronary heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Pipe smoking increases the risk of cancers of the oral cavity, larynx, esophagus, and lung, as well as of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.16 Use of smokeless tobacco (such as snuff and chewing tobacco) causes cancer of the oral cavity and increases the risk of oral leukoplakia and gingival recession.10,17,18
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Citation Excerpt :
At this time, no published studies were found that examined characteristics of adults who use cigarettes in combination with other tobacco products. We defined polytobacco use as cigarette use in combination with other tobacco product use (i.e., cigar, smokeless, pipe, and/or bidi), since users of other tobacco products are likely to also use cigarettes (Delnevo, Pevzner, Hrywna, & Lewis, 2004; Nelson, Davis, Chrismon, & Giovino, 1996; Rigotti, Lee, & Wechsler, 2000; Wetter et al., 2002). To our knowledge, prevalence and characteristics associated with cigarette use in combination with use of any of these tobacco products has not been examined.
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2006, Addictive Behaviors
To predict the impact on tobacco use in the US of a “harm reduction” policy that requires that the smokeless tobacco product meet low nitrosamine standards, but could be marketed with a warning label consistent with the evidence of relative health risks.
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Lead ArticlePipe Smoking in the United States, 1965–1991:Prevalence and Attributable Mortality

Abstract

Lead Article
Pipe Smoking in the United States, 1965–1991:Prevalence and Attributable Mortality