Beliefs About the Health Effects of Smoking Among Adults in the United States

The majority of U.S. adults believe that smoking is a cause of lung cancer, but research suggests that the percentage of adults who believe smoking causes other types of cancers and chronic disease is lower. This study examines the correlates of beliefs about several established health effects of smoking in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Data for this study come from Wave 4 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study conducted from December 2016 to January 2018. Participants responded to questions assessing their beliefs about the health effects of smoking. Logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between beliefs about the health effects of smoking and sociodemographic characteristics (smoker status, age, sex, education, race/ethnicity), exposure to antitobacco campaigns, smokers' health, and nicotine dependence. The percentage of U.S. adults who endorsed a health effect can be caused from smoking ranged from 56.4% for blindness to 97.4% for lung disease. Respondents who were older, less educated, current or former smokers, and had less exposure to antitobacco campaigns were generally less likely (p < .05) to endorse that an established health effect was caused by smoking. Smokers with lower nicotine dependence and worse health were generally more likely (p < .05) to endorse that an established health effect was caused by smoking. In summary, knowledge about the health effects of smoking varies across health conditions. Public health would benefit from campaigns targeting segments of the population with less knowledge about the health effects of smoking.