Tobacco and E-Product Use by US Adults With Disabilities.

IMPORTANCE

Research on cumulative disabilities and tobacco use in the current tobacco landscape is lacking.

OBJECTIVE

To examine prevalence of tobacco use across cumulative disabilities within and across years among US adults.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Representative cross-sectional surveys of the US adult (aged ≥18 years) civilian, noninstitutionalized population from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study were compared across 2013 to 2014 (wave 1), 2016 to 2018 (wave 4), and 2022 to 2023 (wave 7). Age-adjusted estimates and change scores were compared using design-based significance tests. Data were analyzed from November 2023 and April 2024.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Past 30-day use of tobacco (cigarette, electronic nicotine [e-product], traditional cigar, filtered cigar, cigarillo, pipe, hookah, and smokeless products); disability types (mobility, self-care, independent living, cognitive, hearing, and vision) summed to generate a 4-level cumulative disability measure (0, 1, 2, or ≥3).

RESULTS

In 2013 to 2014, among 32 314 participants at wave 1, 3110 participants were 65 years or older (18.2%), 15 993 (51.9%) were female, 5536 (15.2%) were Hispanic, 4496 (11.2%) were non-Hispanic Black, 19 295 (66.0%) were non-Hispanic White, and 2428 (7.5%) were another non-Hispanic race. A total of 32 314 adults were included in 2013 to 2014, 33 638 in 2016 to 2018, and 30 681 in 2022 to 2023. In 2013 to 2014, any tobacco use prevalence for those with no disabilities was 25.4% (95% CI, 24.7% to 26.1%), while prevalence was 40.2% (95% CI, 38.6% to 41.8%), 48.9% (95% CI, 45.4% to 52.5%), and 51.8% (95% CI, 48.6% to 55.0%) for those with 1, 2, and 3 or more disabilities, respectively. Any tobacco, cigarette, e-product, cigarillo, filtered cigar, and pipe use were consistently higher among those with multiple disabilities compared with those with 0 or 1 disability. Prevalence was highest among those with 3 or more disabilities for all products. Tobacco use declined over time, except e-product use increased. However, not all declines in prevalence between 2013 to 2014 and 2022 to 2023 were significant among those with 3 or more disabilities. The declines for those who used any tobacco (-4.6%; 95% CI, -8.7% to -0.6%) and cigarettes (-8.9%; 95% CI, -12.7% to -5.1%) were small, and increases in e-product use were large (4.6%; 95% CI, 1.0% to 8.3%) for those with 3 or more disabilities compared with other groups.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this survey study, disparities in tobacco use existed across cumulative disabilities. Despite declines in tobacco use over time, differences in use across cumulative disabilities persisted or worsened, especially among those with 3 or more disabilities. Targeted prevention, screening, and cessation efforts inclusive of multiple products are needed.