Smokeless tobacco use among adults in Kentucky: 1994.

We assessed the 1994 prevalence of smokeless tobacco use among Kentucky adults > or = 18 years of age. 649 adults, contacted through a statewide random digit dialing procedure, completed an 18-minute telephone survey which included questions on current and former use of chewing tobacco and snuff. Overall, 4.5% of the sample (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.95%-6.15%) claimed to currently use smokeless tobacco. Among males, 9.9% (95% CI = 6.1%-13.3%) claimed to currently use smokeless tobacco. Use of chewing tobacco exceeded snuff use by 2 to 1. No women were current users of either chewing tobacco or snuff. A typical current user was male, was over 45 years of age, did not graduate from high school, and lived in a rural or Appalachian county of Kentucky. Former users comprised 17.3% of the sample; all but one of these were male. By the year 2000, the overall prevalence of smokeless tobacco must be reduced by half if Kentucky is to meet its public health objective that no more than 2% of Kentuckians use smokeless tobacco.