* 2008 Kentucky Youth Tobacco Survey

The 2008 Kentucky Youth Tobacco Survey (KYTS) was conducted from February 2008 to June 2008 by

local health department tobacco prevention and cessation specialists and the Kentucky Department for

Public Health.

Technical assistance was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Office on Smoking and Health. A total of 2888 high school students and 4088 middle school students

completed usable questionnaires. Students were surveyed using a questionnaire containing 67 questions

based on the Youth Tobacco Survey instrument originally developed in 1997 by the Florida Department

of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 

The following report contains results from the 2008 high school and middle school KYTS, as well as

comparison results from previous years (the KYTS is conducted in even years only). High school and

middle school data are compared to 2006 data. Statistical analyses of the differences between survey

years were calculated with SAS/SUDAAN software. The report is categorized by topic regarding tobacco

use. Definitions of each topic area can be found on page 45 of this report. 

Executive Summary

Cigarettes

Current smokers:

• High school increased from 25% in 2006 to 27% in 2008.

• Middle school decreased from 12% in 2006 to 9% in 2008.

Lifetime smokers:

• High school increased from 57% in 2006 to 59% in 2008.

• Middle school decreased from 36% in 2006 to 31% in 2008

Smokeless Tobacco

Current use:

• High school increased from 13% in 2006 to 14% in 2008.

• Middle school remained the same (8%).

Lifetime use:

• From 2006 to 2008, high school remained the same (31%).

• Middle school remained the same (18%).

Cigars

Current smokers:

• From 2006 to 2008, high school students remained the same (15%).

• Middle school decreased from 7% in 2006 to 6% in 2008.

Lifetime smokers:

• High school increased from 39% in 2006 to 40% in 2008.

• Middle school decreased from 21% in 2006 to 17% in 2008.

Bidis (hand-rolled cigarettes wrapped in a leaf, tied with a string2)

Current smokers:

• High school students increased from 3% in 2006 to 6% in 2008.

• Middle school remained the same (3%).

Lifetime smokers:

• High school increased from 6% in 2006 to 8% in 2008.

• Middle school decreased from 6% in 2006 to 5% in 2008.

Any Type of Tobacco

Current use:

• High school increased from 34% in 2006 to 36% in 2008.

• Middle school decreased from 19% in 2006 to 17% in 2008.

Lifetime use:

• High school increased from 65% in 2006 to 67% in 2008.

• Middle school decreased from 44% in 2006 to 40% in 2008

Access

• In 2008, 30% of high school smokers more often gave money to an older person to purchase cigarettes

rather than purchased them in a store themselves, borrowed or bummed them from someone,

or received them from an older person without payment.

• In 2008, 27% of middle school smokers were more likely to get cigarettes by giving money to an

older person to purchase them, compared to 2006, when middle school smokers were more likely to

borrow or bum cigarettes from others (26%).

Quit Attempts

• High school decreased slightly from 60% in 2006 to 59% in 2008.

• Middle school decreased slightly from 66% in 2006 to 65% in 2008.

Secondhand Smoke— in a room where someone was smoking within the past week

High School:

• Current smokers decreased from 92% in 2006 to 89% in 2008.

• Never smokers decreased from 67% in 2006 to 56% in 2008.

Middle School:

• Current smokers increased from 86% in 2006 to 88% in 2008.

• Never smokers increased from 55% in 2006 to 59% in 2008.

Secondhand Smoke— in a car where someone was smoking within the past week

High School:

• Current smokers increased from 85% in 2006 to 86% in 2008.

• Never smokers decreased from 44% in 2006 to 35% in 2008.

Middle School:

• Current smokers increased from 80% in 2006 to 83% in 2008.

• Never smokers increased from 42% in 2006 to 46% in 2008.

Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Tobacco Use

Think young people who smoke have more friends:

• High school increased from 20% in 2006 to 22% in 2008.

• Middle school decreased from 20% in 2006 to 17% in 2008.

Think smoking makes young people look cool:

• High school increased from 11% in 2006 to 13% in 2008.

• Middle school decreased from 11% in 2006 to 10% in 2008.

Consider smoke from someone else’s cigarette to be harmful:

• High school:

• Current smokers decreased from 89% in 2006 to 84% in 2008.

• Never smokers decreased from 96% in 2006 to 91% in 2008.

• Middle school:

• Current smokers decreased from 82% in 2006 to 81% 2008.

• Never smokers decreased from 92% in 2006 to 91% in 2008.

Believe people could get addicted to using tobacco just like they can get addicted to heroin or cocaine:

• High school decreased from 89% in 2006 to 85% in 2008.

• Current smokers decreased from 85% in 2006 to 82% in 2008.

• Never smokers decreased from 93% in 2006 to 89% in 2008.

• Middle school remained the same from 2006 to 2008 (89%).

• Current smokers increased from 84% in 2006 to 87% in 2008.

• Never smokers decreased slightly from 91% in 2006 to 90% in 2008.

Think it is safe to smoke for a year or two, as long as you quit after that:

• High school:

• Current smokers increased from 24% in 2006 to 30% in 2008.

• Never smokers increased from 4% in 2006 to 9% in 2008.

• Middle school:

• Current smokers increased from 31% in 2006 to 34% in 2008.

• Never smokers remained the same from 2006 to 2008 (7%).

Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Tobacco Use — continued

Think people risk harming themselves if they smoke between one and five cigarettes a day:

• High school:

• Current smokers increased slightly from 84% in 2006 to 85% in 2008.

• Never smokers decreased from 94% in 2006 to 89% in 2008.

• Middle school:

• Current smokers decreased from 82% in 2006 to 78% in 2008.

• Never smokers increased slightly from 91% in 2006 to 92% in 2008.

Social Influences Impacting Tobacco Use

Lives with someone who currently smokes:

• High school:

• Current smokers remained the same from 2006 to 2008 (66%).

• Never smokers decreased from 44% in 2006 to 36% in 2008.

• Middle school:

• Current smokers remained the same from 2006 to 2008 (78%).

• Never smokers increased from 44% in 2006 to 50% percent in 2008.

Lives with someone who currently uses smokeless tobacco:

• High school:

• Current smokeless tobacco users decreased slightly from 45% in 2006 to 37% in 2008.

• Never smokeless tobacco users increased slightly from 17% in 2006 to 22% in 2008.

• Middle school:

• Current smokeless tobacco users decreased from 55% in 2006 to 43% in 2008.

• Never smokeless tobacco users increased from 17% in 2006 to 23% in 2008.

Have one or more friends that smoke:

• High school:

• Current smokers decreased from 92% in 2006 to 91% in 2008.

• Never smokers remained the same from 2006 to 2008 (38%).

• Middle school:

• Current smokers remained the same from 2006 to 2008 (88%).

• Never smokers increased from 21% in 2006 to 31% in 2008.

Have one or more friends that currently use smokeless tobacco:

• High school:

• Current smokeless tobacco users decreased from 86% in 2006 to 78% in 2008.

• Never smokeless tobacco users increased from 33% in 2006 to 38% in 2008.

• Middle school:

• Current smokeless tobacco users decreased from 76% in 2006 to 73% in 2008.

• Never smokeless tobacco users increased from 23% in 2006 to 33% in 2008.

Tobacco Dependence

Lifetime smokers who smoked their first cigarette before age 11:

• High school decreased from 18% in 2006 to 10% in 2008.

• Middle school increased from 28% in 2006 to 36% in 2008.

Lifetime smokers who have smoked 100 or more cigarettes:

• High school increased from 32% in 2006 to 34% in 2008.

• Middle school decreased from 16% in 2006 to 12% in 2008.

 * Tooms MR. Kentucky Youth Tobacco Survey 2008.
Frankfort, KY: Kentucky Department for Public Health,
Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program. March, 2009.