Smoking patterns among seniors and the medicare stop smoking program.

Objectives: To characterize smoking patterns in the older U.S. community-dwelling Medicare population at the national level and in states chosen to participate in the new Medicare Stop Smoking Program (MSSP) demonstration. To describe the MSSP.

Design: Data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 1996 to 1999 were analyzed.

Setting: The BRFSS is a cross-sectional random-digit-dialed telephone survey conducted in all states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Participants: BRFSS respondents aged 65 and older who self-identified as receiving Medicare benefits.

Measurements: Using BRFSS core questionnaire variables, recent trends in prevalence of current smoking and smoking cessation were estimated, as were prevalences by various demographic characteristics, for both the nation and the MSSP states as a group.

Results: As of 1999, an estimated 10.2% of this population were current smokers, with those aged 65 to 74 smoking at twice the rate (12.9%) of those aged 75 and older (6.1%) and blacks (14.7%) smoking more than whites (10.0%). Between 1996 and 1999, the prevalence of everyday smokers indicating they had attempted to quit for 1 day or longer in the past year rose from 37.1% to 42.2%. National patterns were mirrored in the states chosen to participate in the MSSP.

Conclusions: Young-old Medicare recipients have a higher smoking prevalence, although interest in quitting appears to be rising. The chosen MSSP states appear to be a representative of national smoking patterns in the older Medicare population.