Smokeless tobacco (SLT) products include snus (a type of moist snuff tobacco), dip, chewing tobacco, and dissolvable tobacco. A recent article shares findings from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study wave 1, which was conducted between 2013 and 2014. Participants were 32,320 adults aged 18 years or older who completed audio computer-assisted self-interviews in English and Spanish. Young adults (aged 18 to 24 years), African Americans, and adult tobacco users were oversampled during this wave. Participants reported whether they used any tobacco product or any SLT product, which product(s) they used, and frequency of use. Other measures included number of days on which participants used SLT in the past month, number of snus pouches used per day, age at first use, age at first regular use of a given product, frequency of cigarette use, and demographic characteristics. Use of other tobacco products (i.e., hookah, e-cigarettes) was also assessed. Overall, SLT use was most common among men, young adults, non-Hispanic Whites, and respondents in nonurban areas. Among participants aged 18 to 24 years, 4.0% reported using any SLT and 1.0% reported using pouched snus. 35.9% of young adults reported using both pouched snus and at least one other type of SLT product. Results of the PATH study wave 1 were used to estimate the prevalence of SLT use among all U.S. adults: These estimates were 16.5% for ever using any type of SLT and 2.9% for current established use of SLT.
Take away: Results from this large-scale study found smokeless tobacco (SLT) use was most common among men, young adults aged 18 to 24 years, and respondents in nonurban areas. Using more than one type of tobacco product was common among respondents who reported SLT use.