Smoking worst among miners, hoteliers and construction workers: CDC report

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDOct 2 2011

A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report reveals that miners, construction workers and people in the hotel and food service industry have the highest smoking rates, while those in education have the lowest.

Data from the National Health Interview Survey found that overall the incidence of smoking was highest among those who didn't graduate high school, had no health insurance and lived below the federal poverty line. Smoking rates among all working adults surveyed was 19.6%.

Smoking prevalence among miners and people in hotel and food service was 30%, followed closely by people who worked in construction jobs (29.7%). Other professions with higher rates included transportation and warehousing (24.3%), manufacturing (23.2%) and retail (23.1%). In the lower ranks of smoking prevalence were people who worked in education services (9.7%), business management (10.9%) and finance and insurance (13.9%). Among occupation groups, construction and extraction had the highest incidence of smoking at 31.4%, while those in education, training and library work had the lowest (8.7%).

Smoking rates in the U.S. went from 27.8% during 1987 to 1994 to 24.5% during 1997 to 2004, the report said. But from 2005 to 2010 rates have leveled off. “There may be other characteristics that are clustering in these industries,” said Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the Office on Smoking and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Traits linked to higher smoking rates and seen in employees in these industries include being younger, having fewer years of education and making less money. Also, some people who work outdoors are less likely to face the kind of indoor smoking bans seen in white-collar workplaces like schools, hospitals and office buildings, McAfee said.

According to the study authors workplace interventions have been effective in getting employees to quit. “Although some progress has been made in reducing smoking prevalence among working adults additional effective employer interventions need to be implemented,” they write. They added that those should include health insurance coverage for stop-smoking treatments, user-friendly help for people who want to quit and policies for a smoke-free workplace.

The health care overhaul bill enacted last year requires new private health insurance plans to offer smoking cessation services without co-pays, and should result in higher quitting rates among working adults. Employers should make sure their employees are aware of these programs and encourage their use, the CDC said. The report relied on data form the National Health Interview Survey of more than 113,000 working adults in the years 2004 through 2010.