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2003 BRFSS Survey Results: North Carolina

Tobacco Indicators

How old were you the first time you smoked a cigarette, even one or two puffs?*

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  Total
Respond.^		 12 or under 13-14 15-16 17-18 19 0r older
N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%) N % C.I.(95%)
TOTAL 4,417 948 22.8 20.8-25.0 830 19.7 17.8-21.7 1,165 27.9 25.8-30.1 678 14.4 12.9-16.1 796 15.2 13.7-16.9
GENDER
Male 1,970 541 27.1 24.0-30.4 414 20.3 17.5-23.4 505 28.2 25.1-31.4 252 12.5 10.5-14.9 258 11.9 10.0-14.2
Female 2,447 407 17.5 15.3-20.0 416 18.8 16.5-21.5 660 27.5 24.8-30.4 426 16.8 14.6-19.1 538 19.4 17.2-21.8
RACE
White 3,438 801 24.4 22.2-26.8 674 20.7 18.5-23.1 920 27.6 25.3-30.0 500 14.1 12.4-16.0 543 13.2 11.6-14.9
African American 715 99 13.3 9.9-17.7 102 13.5 10.1-17.9 169 29.3 23.9-35.3 141 18.5 14.7-23.1 204 25.3 20.8-30.4
Asian 9 2 12.4 2.0-49.1 1 4.5 0.6-28.7 1 4.0 0.5-26.3 1 19.2 2.7-67.4 4 59.8 22.9-88.2
Native American 127 25 32.3 17.4-52.0 22 23.6 10.0-46.3 38 16.5 10.0-26.2 18 10.9 5.1-21.7 24 16.6 8.6-29.7
Other Minorities 117 20 24.7 13.6-40.5 27 19.3 10.8-32.2 36 35.1 22.8-49.8 17 7.8 3.7-15.7 17 13.0 6.8-23.7
HISPANIC
Hispanic 115 17 24.3 12.7-41.4 26 18.2 9.8-31.3 42 38.1 25.0-53.2 13 6.6 2.7-15.2 17 12.8 6.3-24.1
-English Speaking 55 9 27.5 12.0-51.4 13 34.5 16.3-58.7 21 25.2 12.6-44.1 4 2.2 0.7- 6.8 8 10.6 2.8-32.3
-Spanish Speaking 60 8 22.9 9.2-46.5 13 10.9 4.3-25.1 21 43.9 26.5-62.9 9 8.6 3.2-21.1 9 13.7 5.9-28.8
Non-Hispanic 4,300 930 22.7 20.7-24.8 803 19.7 17.8-21.8 1,123 27.4 25.3-29.6 665 14.8 13.2-16.5 779 15.4 13.8-17.0
AGE
18-24 240 65 24.7 17.3-33.8 60 28.3 20.5-37.8 74 31.9 23.9-41.2 34 13.9 8.3-22.4 7 1.1 0.4- 3.5
25-34 554 121 23.9 18.5-30.3 124 20.2 14.9-26.7 162 29.8 24.3-36.0 71 12.5 9.0-17.0 76 13.6 9.9-18.5
35-44 815 185 21.3 17.5-25.7 205 23.2 19.3-27.6 208 28.8 24.0-34.1 96 11.1 8.3-14.6 121 15.6 12.1-19.9
45-54 989 200 24.0 19.5-29.1 180 18.1 14.5-22.3 276 26.1 22.0-30.6 148 13.2 10.5-16.5 185 18.7 15.2-22.8
55-64 817 166 19.6 15.8-24.0 143 18.3 14.6-22.6 207 28.3 23.7-33.4 149 18.7 15.0-23.1 152 15.1 11.9-18.9
65-74 618 141 26.6 21.6-32.3 81 12.8 9.4-17.3 146 25.1 20.4-30.5 113 16.2 12.6-20.6 137 19.2 15.3-23.9
75+ 361 67 21.9 16.2-28.9 31 10.4 6.5-16.4 85 21.8 16.5-28.2 64 20.5 15.0-27.3 114 25.4 19.9-31.8
EDUCATION
Less Than H.S. 815 234 30.2 25.3-35.7 159 21.1 16.4-26.8 196 25.3 20.6-30.6 107 12.4 9.4-16.1 119 11.0 8.1-14.8
H.S. or G.E.D. 1,444 298 23.0 19.4-27.1 287 21.5 18.3-25.2 388 27.1 23.5-30.9 204 12.3 10.0-15.0 267 16.1 13.5-19.1
Some Post-H.S. 1,119 214 18.2 15.0-22.0 209 19.8 16.1-24.2 318 30.2 25.9-34.8 181 16.5 13.1-20.6 197 15.2 12.3-18.7
College Graduate 1,029 199 21.3 17.6-25.7 174 15.2 12.4-18.6 259 28.6 24.5-33.0 186 17.0 14.0-20.6 211 17.8 14.8-21.3
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Less than $15,000 560 137 27.8 21.8-34.7 90 15.9 10.9-22.6 138 24.7 19.3-31.1 89 14.5 10.8-19.2 106 17.1 12.8-22.4
$15,000- 24,999 936 211 25.6 21.1-30.8 169 17.8 14.1-22.3 253 29.0 24.4-34.1 127 11.8 9.0-15.2 176 15.7 12.4-19.8
$25,000- 34,999 519 111 24.3 18.7-31.0 94 21.3 15.6-28.4 145 26.3 20.8-32.7 79 13.3 9.6-18.2 90 14.7 10.7-19.9
$35,000- 49,999 605 108 16.5 12.7-21.0 129 25.5 20.4-31.5 170 29.7 24.4-35.5 99 13.9 10.5-18.2 99 14.4 11.0-18.7
$50,000-74,999 468 103 21.8 16.9-27.6 102 19.7 15.0-25.4 129 32.6 26.6-39.1 72 15.1 10.9-20.5 62 10.8 7.6-15.2
$75,000+ 457 89 23.2 17.1-30.7 83 16.6 12.5-21.7 123 27.3 21.6-33.8 82 17.7 12.8-24.0 80 15.2 11.3-20.2
COUNTY/REGION**
Buncombe 228 59 27.2 20.6-34.9 33 17.5 12.2-24.5 59 28.0 21.3-35.8 32 11.5 7.8-16.5 45 15.8 11.4-21.6
Guilford 208 38 16.4 11.6-22.6 42 23.7 16.9-32.2 58 28.7 21.7-36.9 40 16.7 11.5-23.6 30 14.5 9.7-21.1
Mecklenburg 193 37 21.4 14.1-31.2 30 12.0 8.1-17.5 62 33.2 25.3-42.0 27 14.6 8.3-24.4 37 18.8 13.1-26.2
Orange 190 38 25.4 14.2-41.2 43 19.7 13.3-28.1 50 30.2 19.7-43.3 29 10.6 6.6-16.6 30 14.2 7.6-24.8
Wake 169 29 18.3 11.5-27.8 34 18.5 12.4-26.6 39 27.6 19.8-36.9 35 18.4 12.5-26.3 32 17.3 11.8-24.5
Chatham/Lee 186 30 15.7 10.1-23.6 36 20.1 14.3-27.4 48 26.9 20.2-34.9 26 12.2 8.1-17.9 46 25.2 18.5-33.3
Nash/Wilson 169 22 12.0 7.5-18.7 33 19.7 13.8-27.5 58 35.7 27.5-44.9 22 15.6 8.7-26.3 34 17.0 11.7-23.9
Craven/Pamlico 234 47 21.9 16.2-28.8 43 19.2 14.1-25.6 59 22.3 17.1-28.4 33 15.7 10.8-22.3 52 20.9 15.8-27.1
Stokes/Surry/Yadkin 222 54 28.1 21.4-36.0 43 18.8 13.3-26.0 61 25.6 19.4-32.9 28 9.9 6.5-14.8 36 17.6 10.3-28.4
Appalachian/Wilkes 224 61 30.8 21.8-41.6 36 15.3 10.2-22.4 65 30.7 23.4-39.1 27 9.7 6.3-14.5 35 13.5 9.3-19.2
Franklin/Gran./Vance 221 41 26.5 18.1-37.1 40 16.7 11.8-23.1 55 28.6 20.8-37.8 35 11.1 7.6-16.0 50 17.0 12.3-23.1
Graham/Swain/Jackson 226 45 18.2 11.8-26.9 50 19.8 13.0-28.9 62 33.9 18.0-54.6 31 16.3 9.7-26.0 38 11.8 7.6-18.0
Hoke/Robeson/Scotland 239 56 25.9 19.6-33.3 38 14.8 10.5-20.3 58 24.8 18.8-32.0 42 16.9 12.0-23.4 45 17.6 12.8-23.7
Bladen/Columbus/Sampson 195 46 22.3 16.3-29.6 45 24.7 17.7-33.3 40 18.9 13.4-26.0 30 12.6 8.3-18.7 34 21.5 13.2-33.2
Northeast NC I 209 46 21.9 16.2-28.9 41 20.8 15.1-28.0 44 24.8 18.1-33.0 36 18.1 12.3-25.8 42 14.4 10.3-19.8
Northeast NC II 238 54 23.2 17.2-30.4 44 17.9 13.0-24.2 68 28.1 21.8-35.2 37 18.4 12.3-26.6 35 12.5 8.2-18.4
Northeastern Partnership 447 100 22.7 18.2-28.0 85 18.9 15.0-23.5 112 27.0 22.2-32.4 73 18.3 13.6-24.1 77 13.1 9.8-17.3
Mountain AHEC 667 150 22.6 18.2-27.6 129 26.0 19.3-34.1 175 25.0 20.1-30.7 97 13.4 10.3-17.1 116 13.0 10.1-16.7
NC REGIONS***
Eastern NC 1,549 326 22.1 18.7-26.0 292 18.9 15.9-22.3 395 27.4 23.7-31.3 247 15.8 13.0-19.0 289 15.8 13.3-18.8
Piedmont 1,820 367 22.8 20.0-26.0 345 19.3 16.6-22.2 485 28.2 25.3-31.4 289 14.1 12.0-16.6 334 15.6 13.4-18.0
Western NC 1,048 255 24.4 20.4-28.8 193 22.5 17.6-28.3 285 27.6 23.2-32.4 142 12.6 9.9-15.8 173 12.9 10.2-16.3

Back to Tobacco Indicators.

* This question was asked of all respondents who reported smoking 100+ cigarettes in his/her lifetime.

^Use caution in interpreting percentages with a numerator of less than 20. N = numerator, % = Percentage, C.I.(95%) = Confidence Interval (at 95 percent probability level).
Percentages are weighted to population characteristics and therefore cannot be calculated exactly from the numbers in this table.

** Northeast NC I: Bertie, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Northampton, and Warren counties.
Northeast NC II: Beaufort, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Edgecombe, Hyde, Martin, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington counties.
Northeastern Partnership: Northeast NC I and II regions combined.
Mountain Area Health Education Center (AHEC): Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, McDowell, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, and Yancey counties.

*** Eastern North Carolina: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Tyrrell, Washington, Wayne, and Wilson counties.
Piedmont North Carolina: Alamance, Alexander, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Catawba, Chatham, Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Durham, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Granville, Guilford, Iredell, Lee, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Moore, Orange, Person, Randolph, Richmond, Rockingham, Rowan, Stanly, Stokes, Union, Vance, Wake, Warren, and Yadkin counties.
Western North Carolina: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, McDowell, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey counties.

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This page was generated on 16JUN04.

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