By ALLISON WOOD
Staff Writer
MEDINA — The county’s smoking rate is below the state and national average, but most respondents to a survey about tobacco use habits thought it was much higher.
These findings are in the Medina County Adult Tobacco Survey 2008, which asked 400 randomly selected adult county residents about tobacco habits, attempts to quit, experiences with second-hand smoke and their opinions on how accepted tobacco use is in the community.
About 18 percent of adults surveyed used some form of tobacco products, with most of them being cigarette smokers (13.6 percent of all respondents).
The county’s smoking rate is several percentage points lower than the state (23.1 percent) and national (19.7 percent) rates.
What was surprising about the survey is almost all of the respondents thought the smoking rate was higher, said Brian Nowak, director of the Medina County Drug Abuse Commission.
Nine out of 10 (90 percent) adults believed the adult smoking rate was higher than the 13 percent rate, while 95 percent believed the youth smoking rate (younger than age 18) was higher than the current rate of 8 percent.
Nowak said community perceptions are important for youth tobacco prevention efforts because youth may be less likely to start smoking if they are aware few people actually do it.
When asked if smoking was allowed inside their homes, 82 percent of respondents said it was not.
Out of the 18 percent of those who said they were tobacco users, 39 percent said they had tried to quit within the last year and went at least one day without smoking. More women smokers (53 percent) than men (35.9 percent) said they had tried quitting.
Most of those interested in quitting also said they would prefer to participate in an individual smoking cessation program over a group program.
Funding for the survey came from a grant through the now-dissolved Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation, Nowak said. Along with statistics, he said the survey can provide information about where the biggest needs are.
Wood may be reached at 330-721-4050 or allisonwood@ohio.net.
The Stats
Tobacco survey results:
13.6 – percentage of adult cigarette smokers
18.1 – percentage who used tobacco products
39 – percentage of smokers who tried to quit within the last year
SOURCE: Medina County Adult Tobacco Survey 2008
