Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of smoking among young adults and to describe their characteristics.
Methods: Data were examined from the Minnesota Adult Tobacco Survey, a telephone survey of 8821 residents with a sample of 1205 young adults.
Results: Prevalence was 39% using the adolescent definition and 32% using the adult definition. Nearly 1 in 5 young adult smokers may be considered a "previously unrecognized smoker" who would not have been identified as a cigarette user according to the standard adult definition.
Conclusions: Future studies assessing prevalence should use both adolescent and adult measures.