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Cigarette Smoking Among Los Angeles County Adults
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, accounting for an estimated 500,000 deaths each year. Smoking is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, cancers of the lung, pharynx, mouth, esophagus, pancreas, and bladder, and other problems such as low infant birth weight and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In Los Angeles County, cigarette smoking causes 1 in every 7 deaths and approximately $4.3 billion dollars are lost due to smoking-related diseases and deaths each year. The leading causes of smoking related deaths are lung cancer, coronary heart disease, and chronic airway obstruction. After a decade of steady decline in smoking, results from the 2007 Los Angeles County Health Survey (LACHS) show that smoking prevalence among adults is at 14.3%, a slight increase from 2005.(see
fig 1)
Comparisons in Smoking Prevalence in 2007
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In 2007, smoking prevalence was significantly higher among men than women (18.7% and 10.1% respectively).
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Among men and women, prevalence was significantly higher among African Americans (32.1% and 19.6% respectively). (see
fig 2)
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Adults 65 years and older had a significantly lower smoking prevalence than adults in other age groups. (see fig 3)
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Prevalence of smoking was lower among those living at or above 300% FPL than among those with lower incomes. (see
fig 4)
Smoking Prevalence by Service Planning Area (SPA)
SPA 1 (Antelope Valley) had the highest smoking prevalence among all SPAs (20.4%), followed by SPA 6 (South), SPA 8 (South Bay) and SPA 7 (East) (19.7%,15.5%, and 13.8% respectively). In contrast, SPA 5 (West) had the lowest smoking prevalence (9.7%). (see
fig 5)
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