BRFSS 2003 - North Carolina: (How old were you when you first started smoking cigarettes regularly?*)

2003 BRFSS Survey Results: North Carolina

Tobacco Indicators

How old were you when you first started smoking cigarettes regularly?*

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	Total Respond.^	Never	14 or under	15-16	17-18	19 0r older
TOTAL	4,416	285	5.9	4.8- 7.1	476	12.9	11.2-14.7	994	24.4	22.3-26.6	1,087	25.6	23.6-27.8	1,574	31.3	29.2-33.4
GENDER
Male	1,968	115	5.6	4.2- 7.5	255	14.3	11.9-17.2	498	26.5	23.5-29.8	515	26.7	23.7-30.0	585	26.8	24.1-29.8
Female	2,448	170	6.2	4.9- 7.9	221	11.0	9.1-13.2	496	21.7	19.2-24.4	572	24.3	21.7-27.0	989	36.8	33.9-39.8
RACE
White	3,441	225	6.4	5.2- 8.0	392	13.7	11.8-15.8	815	25.5	23.2-27.9	870	26.0	23.7-28.5	1,139	28.4	26.2-30.7
African American	708	43	3.9	2.5- 6.1	54	6.7	4.7- 9.6	113	18.7	14.0-24.5	164	25.1	20.4-30.4	334	45.6	39.9-51.4
Asian	9	2	44.9	12.6-82.1	0	0.0	. - .	4	21.0	5.5-54.9	0	0.0	. - .	3	34.2	9.0-73.1
Native American	128	8	4.1	1.6-10.3	13	21.7	8.1-46.5	35	27.9	14.5-46.9	26	15.9	8.1-29.0	46	30.4	18.6-45.5
Other Minorities	119	5	1.8	0.6- 5.3	17	16.4	8.0-30.5	26	24.5	13.9-39.5	25	26.6	15.9-40.9	46	30.7	20.0-44.1
HISPANIC
Hispanic	115	3	1.8	0.5- 5.8	13	13.3	5.4-29.3	23	26.0	14.5-42.2	30	28.7	17.2-43.7	46	30.2	19.3-44.0
-English Speaking	55	1	2.7	0.4-17.0	6	6.7	2.1-19.3	10	25.2	10.7-48.7	15	40.3	20.8-63.6	23	25.1	12.2-44.6
-Spanish Speaking	60	2	1.4	0.3- 5.9	7	16.3	5.7-38.4	13	26.4	12.3-47.9	15	23.5	11.3-42.6	23	32.5	18.4-50.6
Non-Hispanic	4,299	282	6.1	5.0- 7.3	462	12.8	11.1-14.6	970	24.3	22.3-26.5	1,057	25.5	23.5-27.7	1,528	31.4	29.3-33.5
AGE
18-24	240	9	5.7	2.2-13.8	40	17.6	11.0-26.8	84	35.5	27.0-45.0	80	30.3	22.6-39.3	27	10.9	6.4-18.0
25-34	552	35	8.5	5.4-13.0	65	13.3	9.4-18.4	144	23.4	18.4-29.2	148	30.5	24.2-37.6	160	24.4	19.6-29.9
35-44	816	45	4.2	2.7- 6.5	91	11.4	8.6-15.1	235	28.2	23.7-33.2	193	23.6	19.5-28.2	252	32.6	27.8-37.8
45-54	987	66	5.4	3.7- 7.9	102	13.4	9.7-18.2	201	20.6	16.6-25.2	246	24.0	20.1-28.2	372	36.6	32.1-41.5
55-64	806	40	3.0	1.9- 4.7	97	14.3	11.0-18.5	152	23.5	19.0-28.6	193	24.0	19.9-28.7	324	35.1	30.4-40.2
65-74	631	58	8.1	5.4-11.9	53	8.2	5.6-12.0	112	18.7	14.5-23.8	149	27.4	22.5-32.9	259	37.6	32.3-43.2
75+	362	30	9.9	6.0-15.9	26	9.7	5.8-15.8	60	17.7	12.7-24.2	72	19.7	14.4-26.2	174	43.0	36.0-50.3
EDUCATION
Less Than H.S.	819	48	4.2	2.7- 6.6	146	18.6	14.6-23.3	206	27.7	22.8-33.3	185	25.3	20.3-31.0	234	24.2	19.9-29.1
H.S. or G.E.D.	1,442	78	4.9	3.5- 7.0	149	12.8	10.0-16.3	344	26.6	23.0-30.6	347	24.2	20.8-28.1	524	31.4	27.9-35.2
Some Post-H.S.	1,118	61	5.5	3.3- 9.1	110	11.6	8.5-15.5	270	25.0	20.9-29.5	284	25.6	21.7-29.8	393	32.4	28.3-36.8
College Graduate	1,028	98	9.1	6.9-12.0	71	9.5	6.7-13.3	169	17.2	13.9-21.0	270	27.9	24.0-32.1	420	36.3	32.1-40.7
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Less than $15,000	561	28	5.5	3.0- 9.9	82	19.1	13.1-27.1	129	22.1	17.0-28.3	113	20.5	15.8-26.2	209	32.7	27.0-39.0
$15,000- 24,999	935	51	3.6	2.4- 5.4	112	13.6	10.4-17.6	234	28.5	23.7-33.8	227	25.8	21.4-30.8	311	28.5	24.1-33.3
$25,000- 34,999	520	29	5.7	3.1-10.3	52	17.5	11.9-25.0	111	20.1	15.4-25.9	135	25.7	20.2-32.2	193	31.0	25.3-37.3
$35,000- 49,999	606	32	4.0	2.2- 7.1	46	9.0	6.0-13.3	137	26.9	21.7-32.8	165	27.5	22.6-33.0	226	32.6	27.5-38.2
$50,000-74,999	468	32	7.5	4.5-12.2	40	9.4	6.2-13.8	111	25.6	20.0-32.1	136	29.4	23.8-35.6	149	28.2	22.9-34.2
$75,000+	456	43	9.1	5.4-14.9	39	10.1	6.2-16.0	80	20.6	15.4-27.0	132	28.3	22.4-35.1	162	32.0	26.1-38.4
COUNTY/REGION**
Buncombe	229	10	3.5	1.8- 6.7	30	14.4	9.8-20.8	49	25.2	18.8-32.8	51	23.4	17.4-30.8	89	33.5	26.7-41.0
Guilford	204	15	6.3	3.4-11.4	15	8.2	4.7-14.0	41	20.3	14.4-27.9	63	32.7	25.2-41.1	70	32.4	25.1-40.7
Mecklenburg	189	12	9.1	3.8-20.1	17	12.9	6.6-23.4	29	14.1	9.0-21.4	60	33.0	25.2-41.9	71	30.9	23.7-39.2
Orange	188	22	8.2	4.9-13.4	16	7.9	4.5-13.5	41	32.6	19.6-49.0	45	19.6	13.3-27.9	64	31.8	22.1-43.2
Wake	168	12	6.7	3.4-12.9	11	7.9	3.2-17.9	36	20.0	13.8-28.1	48	31.4	23.2-40.9	61	34.0	26.1-42.9
Chatham/Lee	188	19	7.9	4.8-12.7	17	9.3	5.2-16.1	35	18.9	13.3-26.2	49	25.8	19.1-33.8	68	38.2	30.4-46.5
Nash/Wilson	169	7	2.3	1.0- 5.1	16	9.7	5.6-16.1	35	19.5	13.7-27.1	48	29.7	22.1-38.7	63	38.7	29.8-48.4
Craven/Pamlico	237	7	2.7	1.2- 6.2	21	10.8	7.0-16.3	54	21.8	16.4-28.2	63	27.6	21.4-34.7	92	37.2	30.5-44.3
Stokes/Surry/Yadkin	224	13	4.7	2.6- 8.2	26	13.9	9.2-20.5	56	28.7	21.8-36.8	54	21.8	16.2-28.7	75	30.9	22.8-40.4
Appalachian/Wilkes	222	10	3.6	1.8- 7.0	33	18.7	10.4-31.2	47	20.5	14.8-27.6	58	29.1	21.7-37.9	74	28.1	21.6-35.7
Franklin/Gran./Vance	223	18	5.7	3.4- 9.3	19	10.7	5.8-18.7	63	34.0	25.5-43.7	36	15.7	10.8-22.5	87	33.9	26.2-42.6
Graham/Swain/Jackson	228	22	7.6	4.1-13.5	24	9.4	5.4-15.8	52	20.5	13.6-29.5	54	23.2	15.3-33.4	76	39.4	23.6-57.8
Hoke/Robeson/Scotland	239	18	8.7	4.8-15.0	30	15.0	10.1-21.8	53	20.8	15.6-27.0	55	23.7	17.7-30.8	83	31.9	25.6-38.9
Bladen/Columbus/Sampson	195	8	2.9	1.4- 6.1	22	12.6	7.9-19.4	51	24.5	18.0-32.4	44	21.2	15.0-29.0	70	38.8	29.7-48.8
Northeast NC I	210	17	9.5	5.0-17.1	22	12.4	7.8-19.1	49	27.0	20.1-35.3	43	19.8	14.5-26.4	79	31.4	24.8-38.8
Northeast NC II	238	16	4.6	2.6- 7.9	28	12.6	8.4-18.5	54	25.0	18.7-32.6	58	25.6	19.3-33.1	82	32.2	25.3-40.0
Northeastern Partnership	448	33	6.2	4.1- 9.4	50	12.5	9.2-16.8	103	25.7	20.7-31.3	101	23.6	18.9-29.0	161	31.9	26.8-37.6
Mountain AHEC	669	45	5.8	3.5- 9.4	76	12.0	8.9-16.2	148	23.5	19.0-28.8	159	27.3	20.8-35.0	241	31.3	26.0-37.1
NC REGIONS***
Eastern NC	1,552	90	5.1	3.7- 7.1	175	13.3	10.6-16.5	354	25.0	21.3-29.1	373	23.7	20.4-27.4	560	32.8	29.2-36.7
Piedmont	1,815	132	6.6	5.0- 8.6	173	12.5	10.2-15.3	405	24.2	21.3-27.4	464	26.4	23.6-29.5	641	30.3	27.4-33.3
Western NC	1,049	63	4.8	3.2- 7.1	128	13.2	10.0-17.2	235	23.7	19.9-28.0	250	26.5	21.5-32.2	373	31.8	27.4-36.6

Total
Respond.^

Never

14 or under

15-16

17-18

19 0r older

C.I.(95%)

TOTAL

4,416

285

5.9

4.8- 7.1

476

12.9

11.2-14.7

994

24.4

22.3-26.6

1,087

25.6

23.6-27.8

1,574

31.3

29.2-33.4

GENDER

Male

1,968

115

5.6

4.2- 7.5

255

14.3

11.9-17.2

498

26.5

23.5-29.8

515

26.7

23.7-30.0

585

26.8

24.1-29.8

Female

2,448

170

6.2

4.9- 7.9

221

11.0

9.1-13.2

496

21.7

19.2-24.4

572

24.3

21.7-27.0

989

36.8

33.9-39.8

RACE

White

3,441

225

6.4

5.2- 8.0

392

13.7

11.8-15.8

815

25.5

23.2-27.9

870

26.0

23.7-28.5

1,139

28.4

26.2-30.7

African American

708

3.9

2.5- 6.1

6.7

4.7- 9.6

113

18.7

14.0-24.5

164

25.1

20.4-30.4

334

45.6

39.9-51.4

Asian

44.9

12.6-82.1

0.0

. - .

21.0

5.5-54.9

0.0

. - .

34.2

9.0-73.1

Native American

128

4.1

1.6-10.3

21.7

8.1-46.5

27.9

14.5-46.9

15.9

8.1-29.0

30.4

18.6-45.5

Other Minorities

119

1.8

0.6- 5.3

16.4

8.0-30.5

24.5

13.9-39.5

26.6

15.9-40.9

30.7

20.0-44.1

HISPANIC

Hispanic

115

1.8

0.5- 5.8

13.3

5.4-29.3

26.0

14.5-42.2

28.7

17.2-43.7

30.2

19.3-44.0

-English Speaking

2.7

0.4-17.0

6.7

2.1-19.3

25.2

10.7-48.7

40.3

20.8-63.6

25.1

12.2-44.6

-Spanish Speaking

1.4

0.3- 5.9

16.3

5.7-38.4

26.4

12.3-47.9

23.5

11.3-42.6

32.5

18.4-50.6

Non-Hispanic

4,299

282

6.1

5.0- 7.3

462

12.8

11.1-14.6

970

24.3

22.3-26.5

1,057

25.5

23.5-27.7

1,528

31.4

29.3-33.5

AGE

18-24

240

5.7

2.2-13.8

17.6

11.0-26.8

35.5

27.0-45.0

30.3

22.6-39.3

10.9

6.4-18.0

25-34

552

8.5

5.4-13.0

13.3

9.4-18.4

144

23.4

18.4-29.2

148

30.5

24.2-37.6

160

24.4

19.6-29.9

35-44

816

4.2

2.7- 6.5

11.4

8.6-15.1

235

28.2

23.7-33.2

193

23.6

19.5-28.2

252

32.6

27.8-37.8

45-54

987

5.4

3.7- 7.9

102

13.4

9.7-18.2

201

20.6

16.6-25.2

246

24.0

20.1-28.2

372

36.6

32.1-41.5

55-64

806

3.0

1.9- 4.7

14.3

11.0-18.5

152

23.5

19.0-28.6

193

24.0

19.9-28.7

324

35.1

30.4-40.2

65-74

631

8.1

5.4-11.9

8.2

5.6-12.0

112

18.7

14.5-23.8

149

27.4

22.5-32.9

259

37.6

32.3-43.2

75+

362

9.9

6.0-15.9

9.7

5.8-15.8

17.7

12.7-24.2

19.7

14.4-26.2

174

43.0

36.0-50.3

EDUCATION

Less Than H.S.

819

4.2

2.7- 6.6

146

18.6

14.6-23.3

206

27.7

22.8-33.3

185

25.3

20.3-31.0

234

24.2

19.9-29.1

H.S. or G.E.D.

1,442

4.9

3.5- 7.0

149

12.8

10.0-16.3

344

26.6

23.0-30.6

347

24.2

20.8-28.1

524

31.4

27.9-35.2

Some Post-H.S.

1,118

5.5

3.3- 9.1

110

11.6

8.5-15.5

270

25.0

20.9-29.5

284

25.6

21.7-29.8

393

32.4

28.3-36.8

College Graduate

1,028

9.1

6.9-12.0

9.5

6.7-13.3

169

17.2

13.9-21.0

270

27.9

24.0-32.1

420

36.3

32.1-40.7

HOUSEHOLD INCOME

Less than $15,000

561

5.5

3.0- 9.9

19.1

13.1-27.1

129

22.1

17.0-28.3

113

20.5

15.8-26.2

209

32.7

27.0-39.0

$15,000- 24,999

935

3.6

2.4- 5.4

112

13.6

10.4-17.6

234

28.5

23.7-33.8

227

25.8

21.4-30.8

311

28.5

24.1-33.3

$25,000- 34,999

520

5.7

3.1-10.3

17.5

11.9-25.0

111

20.1

15.4-25.9

135

25.7

20.2-32.2

193

31.0

25.3-37.3

$35,000- 49,999

606

4.0

2.2- 7.1

9.0

6.0-13.3

137

26.9

21.7-32.8

165

27.5

22.6-33.0

226

32.6

27.5-38.2

$50,000-74,999

468

7.5

4.5-12.2

9.4

6.2-13.8

111

25.6

20.0-32.1

136

29.4

23.8-35.6

149

28.2

22.9-34.2

$75,000+

456

9.1

5.4-14.9

10.1

6.2-16.0

20.6

15.4-27.0

132

28.3

22.4-35.1

162

32.0

26.1-38.4

COUNTY/REGION**

Buncombe

229

3.5

1.8- 6.7

14.4

9.8-20.8

25.2

18.8-32.8

23.4

17.4-30.8

33.5

26.7-41.0

Guilford

204

6.3

3.4-11.4

8.2

4.7-14.0

20.3

14.4-27.9

32.7

25.2-41.1

32.4

25.1-40.7

Mecklenburg

189

9.1

3.8-20.1

12.9

6.6-23.4

14.1

9.0-21.4

33.0

25.2-41.9

30.9

23.7-39.2

Orange

188

8.2

4.9-13.4

7.9

4.5-13.5

32.6

19.6-49.0

19.6

13.3-27.9

31.8

22.1-43.2

Wake

168

6.7

3.4-12.9

7.9

3.2-17.9

20.0

13.8-28.1

31.4

23.2-40.9

34.0

26.1-42.9

Chatham/Lee

188

7.9

4.8-12.7

9.3

5.2-16.1

18.9

13.3-26.2

25.8

19.1-33.8

38.2

30.4-46.5

Nash/Wilson

169

2.3

1.0- 5.1

9.7

5.6-16.1

19.5

13.7-27.1

29.7

22.1-38.7

38.7

29.8-48.4

Craven/Pamlico

237

2.7

1.2- 6.2

10.8

7.0-16.3

21.8

16.4-28.2

27.6

21.4-34.7

37.2

30.5-44.3

Stokes/Surry/Yadkin

224

4.7

2.6- 8.2

13.9

9.2-20.5

28.7

21.8-36.8

21.8

16.2-28.7

30.9

22.8-40.4

Appalachian/Wilkes

222

3.6

1.8- 7.0

18.7

10.4-31.2

20.5

14.8-27.6

29.1

21.7-37.9

28.1

21.6-35.7

Franklin/Gran./Vance

223

5.7

3.4- 9.3

10.7

5.8-18.7

34.0

25.5-43.7

15.7

10.8-22.5

33.9

26.2-42.6

Graham/Swain/Jackson

228

7.6

4.1-13.5

9.4

5.4-15.8

20.5

13.6-29.5

23.2

15.3-33.4

39.4

23.6-57.8

Hoke/Robeson/Scotland

239

8.7

4.8-15.0

15.0

10.1-21.8

20.8

15.6-27.0

23.7

17.7-30.8

31.9

25.6-38.9

Bladen/Columbus/Sampson

195

2.9

1.4- 6.1

12.6

7.9-19.4

24.5

18.0-32.4

21.2

15.0-29.0

38.8

29.7-48.8

Northeast NC I

210

9.5

5.0-17.1

12.4

7.8-19.1

27.0

20.1-35.3

19.8

14.5-26.4

31.4

24.8-38.8

Northeast NC II

238

4.6

2.6- 7.9

12.6

8.4-18.5

25.0

18.7-32.6

25.6

19.3-33.1

32.2

25.3-40.0

Northeastern Partnership

448

6.2

4.1- 9.4

12.5

9.2-16.8

103

25.7

20.7-31.3

101

23.6

18.9-29.0

161

31.9

26.8-37.6

Mountain AHEC

669

5.8

3.5- 9.4

12.0

8.9-16.2

148

23.5

19.0-28.8

159

27.3

20.8-35.0

241

31.3

26.0-37.1

NC REGIONS***

Eastern NC

1,552

5.1

3.7- 7.1

175

13.3

10.6-16.5

354

25.0

21.3-29.1

373

23.7

20.4-27.4

560

32.8

29.2-36.7

Piedmont

1,815

132

6.6

5.0- 8.6

173

12.5

10.2-15.3

405

24.2

21.3-27.4

464

26.4

23.6-29.5

641

30.3

27.4-33.3

Western NC

1,049

4.8

3.2- 7.1

128

13.2

10.0-17.2

235

23.7

19.9-28.0

250

26.5

21.5-32.2

373

31.8

27.4-36.6

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.

This page was generated on 16JUN04.