Smoking Prevalence in Urban and Rural Populations: Findings from California between 2001 and 2012

The study examines differences in smoking prevalence between urban and rural areas potentially relevant to tobacco control efforts in California. Using smoking data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) for six cycles (2001 to 2011–2012) for 282,931 adults, authors found the overall smoking prevalence in California decreased from 17.0% in 2001 to 13.8% in 2011–2012. Town/Rural areas had the highest smoking prevalence, followed by urban and second-city areas. Suburban areas had the lowest prevalence of smoking. Pooled data from all CHIS cycles showed a similar pattern, with rates in urban, second-city, suburban and town/rural areas being 15.2%, 15.2%, 13.1% and 17.3%, respectively. The trend varied by race/ethnicity, being present in non-Hispanic whites and not present in Hispanics.

Findings: Town/Rural and urban populations of California are consistently at higher risk of smoking than suburban populations. These results indicate a need for population-specific tobacco control approaches that address the lifestyle, behavior and education of disparate populations within the same state or region.