UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective: Even though the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has taken positive steps to deglamorize smoking and discourage tobacco use by military personnel, the results of the 2002 DoD Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Military Personnel demonstrate an alarming increase in tobacco use. Specific populations and subpopulations in the U.S. Department of Defense with high smoking rates are identified as a precursor to developing effective countermeasures to decrease smoking behavior among military personnel.

Methods: Population-based secondary analysis of the 2002 Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Military Personnel according to service, rank and gender

Results: All services demonstrated higher rates of tobacco smoking among males than that of civilian counterparts. The highest rate was 51% among males of rank E1-E3. Females of rank E1-E3 had a rate of 35%. The lowest rate occurred among females of rank O4-O10 at 4.4% with males of this rank having a rate of 5.9%. Smoking rates showed a steady decline as rank increased for both enlisted and officer personnel. Newly enlisted personnel smoke at the highest rates. There is a steady decreasing trend in smoking with changes in age, rank, and marital status (from single to married). Tobacco control measures must be focused on newly enlisted personnel.

The views expressed herein are the views of the authors and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.