Adults With Mental Illness More Likely to Use Tobacco, Study

A new research found that adults with some kind of mental illness are more likely to use tobacco as compared to those without any mental illness. 

A new report by RTI International, funded by Kansas Health foundation, found that nearly 37.8 percent of the Kansas adults with mental illness used tobacco as compared to 17.3 percent of those without mental illness. 

 Smoking rate is known to be highest among adults with serious mental illnesses, multiple disorders as well as substance-use disorders. Nearly one half of these adults who have mental illness have reported smoking in the last 30 days.

"The smoking rate among adults with mental illness remains high despite progress made in tobacco control and the decrease of smoking among the general population," said Betty Brown, research health analyst at RTI and lead author of the study. "As a result, people with mental illness are at an increased risk of negative health, financial, and social outcomes associated with their tobacco use."

In this study, the researchers evaluated the data retrieved from 2012 Kansas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the 2011 Kansas Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, that assessed the risk factors and health behaviors.

The data showed that adults with low income were 40 percent more likely to be smokers. Those below the poverty level make up 9.8 percent of the adult population in the state and account for 24 percent of the adult population with mental illness.

"Our findings emphasize the importance of collaboration between the mental health and tobacco control communities to provide cessation support to individuals with mental illness who use tobacco," Brown said.

The smoking rate is highest among those with mental illness and they are more likely to have tried to quit smoking as compared to others. Nearly 64.7 percent of the smokers with mental illness made an attempt to quit smoking.

In 2012, 10.2 percent of the adults reported having mental illness and 3.4 percent of the adults reported having serious mental illness.

"Through the years we've seen significant decreases in the percentage of Americans who smoke, but we've done very little to make strides in decreasing those rates among people with mental illness," said Dr. Jeff Willett, vice president for programs at the Kansas Health Foundation. "People with mental illness smoke at nearly double the rate of the general population. We see this collaborative effort being a call to action to both the mental health and tobacco control communities."